Healing Touch
by codename.penguin
Summary: A christmas fic. Hotch and Jack try to keep it together after the funeral as one of their biggest supports falls away. Written as a chapter add on to dreamgoddess92’s world of Family Dynamics.
1. Home sweet home

I don't own Criminal minds, just taking the characters and the stories out for a spin. Built as a chapter add on to **dreamgoddess92's** world of **Family Dynamics.**

Chapter 1- Home sweet home

Aaron Hotchner felt a great deal of pride as he dramatically placed a plate of pancakes infront of his son. Sure, they weren't exactly round in shape and it was six o'clock in the evening but the way his son dug into them with gusto was enough to make him feel ten feet tall. It was days like this, he thought he could actually do this parenting job. He leaned over and gently ruffled the small boy's hair who was busy chewing his dinner enthusiastically. He had been a little late from picking Jack up from Haley's sister and the boy began asking what he had cooked for dinner even before they had reached half way home. Panicked, SSA Aaron Hotchner had made a beeline for the kitchen hoping against hope that there was a forgotten can of soup or something readily available.

'Don't you wont 'ne , Fafdy?' he asked inarticulately around a mouthful of pancake and fruit.

'No son, I am having these vegetables' Aaron indicating his own microwaved dinner with his fork.

Of course Jack scrunched his nose in disgust and went back to his much more tasty meal.

The Hotchners were not a pancake family but after Jack had the breakfast dessert at Dave's house, Aaron had made a mental note to pick up a box. Of course that would be whenever he had worked up the nerve to walk down the same supermarket aisles he and his late wife once did. As he cut his potato, he wondered who he had to thank for his well stocked pantry cupboard.

'Probably Emily', he said to himself.

With no one but his uncritical son in sight, Aaron let his posture sag a bit as he thought about the young profiler. His smile began to grow as her beautiful face appeared in his mind. He wondered what she was doing right now. It had been a long day of paper work for the entire team made even longer by her absence today. She had called in sick with the flu and there was a flurry of emails sent by the team in a 'reply all' fashion urging her to drink lots of fluids and get some rest. He had felt like the lowest of the low when he had found out she was ill, immediately blaming himself. For weeks she had been practically running on fumes, being an unwavering source of comfort and support for him and his son.

He had missed her presence in the bull pen and the sound of her voice as she answered the phone and the way she strode determinedly down the hall and her warm brown eyes looking at him over her case files, the latter behaviour making it impossible for him to concentrate for the last week or so. Rossi had begun to lecture him when he saw Hotch's guilty countenance but gave up eventually as he realized that the younger agent had tuned him out.

Jack held out a small cup to him and he poured some more milk for his son. It was getting quiet in the kitchen and quite dark. Hotch didn't see the point of turning on any more lights in the house when it was just the two of them. He thought of switching on a radio just to fill the silence and warm up the space, but the idea of Christmas carols was too much to bear. He didn't realize that he had stopped eating his food, until his son dangled a bit of pancake infront of him, concern written on his young features. The earlier joy he had felt this evening while cooking was beginning to peter out and he jumped as the house made a loud crack as it settled on its foundations.

Without conscious thought he flipped out his cell phone to call Emily but closed his mobile reluctantly. She would be asleep by now, recovering. She deserved a quiet night away from all the angst and pain that was a constant in his life now.

At that moment the house phone line echoed throughout the house and immediately Jack wiggled off his seat and sped to the shrieking appliance. Hotch's eyes widened a fraction as his son nimbly scrambled up a brightly coloured kid's chair that he had absolutely no recollection of purchasing. This seat conveniently put him within reach of the phone which was inexplicably placed on the lowest shelf on the wall. Aaron sighed and massaged the bridge of his nose, speculating on which one of his colleagues were duped into assisting his son with these shenanigans.

However, a normal parent would now be beaming with pride at the grown up greeting that fell from the youngster's lips, but Hotch was swimming in bleak thoughts wondering if Jack's fascination with the telephone had anything to do with seeing his father constantly using it. Another black notch on his already tattered parental record he decided, frowning miserably into his wilted broccoli.

'EMMY!!!' the little boy yelled out, his syrup covered face breaking into a huge grin.

Jack looked towards his father who was now also all smiles. Of course the first time his son had used that nick name, Aaron thought he was going to have a heart attack. But Emily had not appeared to mind and as the days passed the horrible similarity of the pet name to another word that he knew his son might never say again, faded away. Jack excitedly bounced on his seat as he proceeded to describe in detail all his day's activities to his captive caller. Buoyed by what he could hear of this one sided discussion, Aaron felt his appetite rush back with a vengeance and he made quick work of the surprisingly good frozen food dinner. Taking advantage of this sudden burst of energy he cleaned the table and the few dishes and for all intents and purposes he was standing in the little nook, waiting for his turn with the telephone.

Jack looked at him and his face was crumpled in confusion, 'Daddy, Emmy sounds all funny'

Quickly the agent took the phone, 'Emily?'

The unmistakenable sounds of someone retching could be heard in the distance.

Jack wound his way tightly around his father's leg as he reacted to the sudden tension in Aaron's body. The two Hotchner men stood in the gathering darkness listening to the silence over the connection.

'Emily?'


	2. Can you babysit?

Chapter 2-Err…can you babysit?

The stern looking FBI agent barely gave the light a chance to change before he was shooting through the intersection. He and Jack were only ten minutes away from Prentiss' house, seven if he could get the next couple of lights. When Aaron Hotchner realized that Emily could not reach the phone he had flat out panicked. He knew her. Even if she couldn't walk she would have crawled hand over hand to the telephone rather than worry his son.

The only call he had managed to make so far was to 911. Other than that, it was all that he could do to try and calm down and not run off the road. Hearing the dead silence over the phone line was like every nightmare he had for months coming true. As he breathed deeply so that the blood could move from his head to where it was suppose to go, he kept reminding himself that there was no Unsub this time. Prentiss probably just fainted, or maybe she clipped her head …..the former head agent slammed his hand against the steering wheel in frustration. When this was all over he was going to compile a list of the team's neighbours with their respective phone numbers. He eased his foot of the accelerator as the car slid slightly on the slush slicked road. Thank goodness he at least still had his team member's front door keys on his keychain. It wouldn't have mattered anyhow. With the adrenaline pumping in his system, he could have gone through the door à la Morgan. He flipped open his phone and speed dialed Garcia.

'Hello sir?' she said quizzically obviously wondering why the senior profiler was calling her after hours, 'do you need a babysitter tonight?'

'Garcia, we have a situation here' he said curtly.

Immediately she had snapped open her laptop, her mind effortlessly slipping into her professional mode waiting for instructions.

'I'm running hot to Emily's apartment on Etobiloke and Queen. She was talking with Jack on the phone a few minutes ago and then she wasn't there'

The computer genius' eyebrows arched in surprise, 'Sir, there is no way that Emily would hang up on that little man. I am contacting the paramedics now'

'Already ahead of you Garcia, I need two other things done'

'Go G-man' she ordered her hands flying over her keyboard causing search windows to open at dizzying speeds.

'One …call her houseline and keep calling until she answers'

Wordlessly, the woman hit the speed dial on her phone barely breaking the rhythmic clacking of the keys.

'Two?' she asked tightly.

'Two…call everyone and get me whoever's closest. I ….I have Jack with me' the man reluctantly admitted.

This time she did stop her typing as her jaw dropped open in surprise, 'Jack?'

Aaron took a moment to glance in the rearview mirror hoping to see a set of paramedic lights following him.

'There wasn't time to find a babysitter. Get on the phone and get me someone now!' the older man snapped angrily.

'Yes sir' she replied meekly even though the line was already dead.

He realized that he didn't have to explode like that but if Garcia could see them now…no car seat, no shoes, no coats…he would definitely be the one cringing as she took a strip out of his hide. Tiredly he wiped his eyes as he overtook a slow moving minivan. Surely he had not picked up his son in one hand and his car keys in the other and raced out into the frigid night. He was almost certain that he had not just called one of his work colleagues shouting at her to find another work colleague to take his boy while he dashed off to help someone. Of course it was ludicrous to believe that he was speeding on a wet main road with the aforementioned toddler in the front seat because no parent in their right mind would be so irresponsible, right?

Without looking away from the road, Hotch reached over and tucked his work jacket a little more firmly around his boy's little sock clad feet and then passed his hand over the smooth dark head. Only Jack's ears and bright eyes were visible.

'Just hang in there for a few more minutes' he murmured reassuringly to his son.

Jack didn't respond but Aaron suddenly felt a tug on his waist. Looking down he saw that his son had taken his word literally as he had entwined in his fingers in one of his belt loops. Smiling, he unhooked the tiny fist and tucked it back under the coat to keep it warm. In the space of five seconds, his son had calmed his pounding heart and cleared his racing head.

'Sweetheart, someone from the office is coming to stay with you while I check on Emily' Aaron said coaxingly, 'is that okay?'

'Can't I come too? I want Emmy' Jack sniffed miserably.

'Aunt Emmy's sick, Jack. I know you want her but you have to stay here where it's safe. She would be sad if you got sick too. Please son' the agent begged as his son began to cry silently.

'Daddy look!' the boy yelped pointing to a familiar man in a dark SUV who was driving in the oncoming lane.

For a moment Aaron's eyes collided with his fellow profiler before the man had passed them. In an incredible squeal of tires the agent cut across three lanes of traffic by performing an illegal U-turn and then proceeded to muscle his way into the slot right behind them.

'Jesus' Hotchner breathed in shock.

'Daddy, you mustn't take the Lord's name in vain!' Jack lectured him sternly.

Aaron nodded in absentminded agreement as the turn for Emily's apartment building loomed closer. The absence of the characteristic orange flashing lights made his stomach drop to keep his pancreas company. The paramedics had still not arrived. Smoothly he eased into the parking area, gliding to a quiet stop which contrasted greatly with the noisy, bucking park of the SUV alongside them.

There were no lights on in Emily's apartment.

With one hand on the door release and one on his car keys, he looked over at his son. If Jack told him to stay, he would stay even if it killed him. The solitary decisions he had made had driven Haley away; he couldn't repeat the same mistake twice.

Just then Jack's passenger door opened and his boy jumped out clinging to his Uncle Reid's chest like a monkey.

Two sets of brown eyes looked at him accusingly, as if to say 'Why are you still here?'


	3. Let me help

Oh gosh...so many reviews. I was walking around with a big goofy grin all day and I felt so inspired that I put another chapter together. I hope no one is disappointed. There isn't going to be any big mystery and no unsubs to chase. It really is a team family fiction story. You should definitely read dreamgoddess92 story… 'Family dynamics' to get a feel of what I am doing and where I am going with this story. And of course it is a fab story in its own right. Thanks to the goddess for letting me use her ideas.

Chapter 3- Let me help

'Emily, it's me! Where are you? Sing out if you can!' Hotchner called out into the dark living room.

He moved his hand along the wall fumbling for the light switch while Emily's telephone rang unheeded throughout the apartment. Wincing at the flood of light, the agent knocked over the phone's receiver and hustled over to check the downstairs' bathroom.

'Garcia, I am inside! Find out what the hell is holding up those paramedics!' he ordered knowing that she would hear him even as he danced around the living room furniture.

'Emily, Sing out!' he yelled again, taking the stairs two at a time in his haste to find her.

At the top of the staircase, Hotch looked left and then right undecided as to which way to go. He didn't know this part of the home well as she always entertained on the first floor of her apartment. Seeing a small light in a room to the left, he dived in that direction. This proved to be a mistake as it opened out into a small study and a linen closet and more importantly; no Emily. Frustrated, he swiveled and immediately lost his balance, his bare feet no match for the polished wooden floor. The profiler slammed into the wall opposite and little flakes of paint sprinkled down on his head. But he was no stranger to pain and he rose as quickly as he dared gripping his left arm tightly to his side. With his right hand he opened door after door calling out to his missing agent.

'Emily' he whispered under his breath.

He stood still staring at her body lying on the bathroom floor. Her long black hair was fanned out about her and she looked for all the world as if she was asleep in her bed except of course for the trickle of blood running down her cheek.

Hotchner knelt over her and using the edge of his hand he gently brushed her hair off her face. She was paler than normal and with a bright red nose, puffy eyes and a nightgown that could only be charitably called frilly, she was not going to feel up for photos anytime soon. Aaron smiled and for the first time in quarter of an hour he felt his heartbeat return to something within the range of human. Her eyes opened slowly and she blinked up at him almost dreamily. Once again he wondered how he had never noticed how pretty her eyes were before. He knew he should move back and give her some space. Opening your eyes and suddenly seeing someone not more than six inches from your face would be enough to startle anyone. His brain flat lined though, as she brushed her cool fingers slowly down the side of his face.

'Hmmm….am I having that dream again?' she murmured even as her eyes drifted shut.

Aaron felt his face slowly warm up like a steaming teakettle.

'Emily, don't fall back asleep' he urged her, gripping her shoulder, not daring to shake her more forcefully.

She moaned but didn't reopen her eyes.

'PRENTISS!' he roared.

There was no mistaking that voice or its tone, Emily thought, and her eyelids peeled opened as if they were commanded to do so.

'Sir?' she asked in confusion, 'are you alright?'

A small huff of laughter came from the senior agent, 'am I alright? You're the one on the floor'

'Why am I on the floor?' she of course wanted to know as she struggled to rise. He gently but firmly held her down.

'I think you fainted and hit your head on the toilet seat' he deduced looking at the little blood stains.

'I fainted?' she snorted in disbelief, 'let me up'

Aaron had moistened his handkerchief under the tap and had washed away the blood. She would have a nice bruise in the morning but the cut was not deep and it would possibly only scar a bit.

'The paramedics are on their way' he began but stopped as she began to struggle now in earnest.

'The paramedics!' she yelped incredulously, 'Are you crazy! I'm fine, I just have the flu'

She proved it by batting away his hands and propping herself up against the wall. She scowled heavily at him as the familiar sounds of an ambulance could now be clearly heard.

'Emily, you hit your head. You maybe concussed' he tried to reason even as she rolled her eyes at him.

It was easy for her to sit there and sneer at him. Everything looked different now that she was awake and mobile as opposed to lifeless and sprawled on a floor. He turned his face away in an effort to conceal his irritation. She made him so crazy at times.

'Hotch?' she began slowly, 'where's Jack? Tell me you didn't bring him here!'

He held up his hand reassuringly, 'he's outside in the parking lot with Reid'

Instantly she began to struggle, groping for every handhold in the bathroom to pull herself up. As Hotch expected, she also instantly keeled over. He was just in time to prevent her from knocking the other side of her head on another random bathroom fixture.

Emily held on to Aaron's forearms, trying to steady herself. She wanted to go to her bedroom where the windows faced the street. From there she would be able to see her two boys. But that window seemed miles away especially as the room refused to stop spinning. Her mother always said any woman worth her salt would do whatever needed to be done. After a minute of dithering, she gathered her courage and looked up at her work colleague and friend. It was hard to admit that she needed help. It had always been that way for her.

Hesitantly she raised her arms towards his neck, and without a word Hotchner stepped into her embrace and carefully lifted her up in his arms. Quickly she led him through the correct door, mindful that the weight of a healthy sized woman was nothing to sneeze at. This room was also dark except for the amber strobe light shining on the walls from the waiting ambulance. Navigating around the bed, Hotch wondered if it made him pervert to be aware of how soft and warm Emily was when she was sick like a dog.

Eagerly they both looked down through the window expecting to see Jack and Reid waiting patiently. Emily gasped out loud and turned to look at her companion in horror.

'Oh….. buckets' was all Hotch could finally manage to say.


	4. Tall Tales

Oh dear but I love cliffhangers!

Chapter 4- Tall tales

'You're upset, aren't you?' Hotch asked cautiously.

Emily crossed her arms as her left eyebrow rose in surprise, 'No Hotch, how could you guess?'

The scene had paralysed him for a few seconds but quickly he had stepped back taking them further into the darkened room.

'I need you to stay here. I'll handle it' he assured her laying her down on her bed and pulling up the covers. He had to fight the urge not to kiss her forehead as if she was Jack.

As he moved to leave she suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, worry stamped on her face.

'It's okay,' he promised tucking her hand under the warm sheets, 'I'll handle it.'

With every stair he descended he could feel his irritation growing. If Garcia was here now, he thought for a minute, he would have shoved her into a wall. As quietly as he could he eased the front door open. It would not do on top of everything to advertise his half dressed state.

The parking lot looked like a war zone.

Six FBI issued SUV's were haphazardly parked in the little space. There was even one in the neighbour's flower bed. The profiler cast a practiced eye over the scene seeking out his agents. Reid and Jack were in his car both looking up at Emily's window, obviously hoping the couple would reappear, Dave was herding the neighbours and other on lookers back to their apartments but what drew his eyes was Morgan and his group. He knew the new team leader was attempting to do fierce damage control but Hotch could tell it was a losing battle. There were three fellow FBI agents from the bull pen all looking at the young African profiler in disbelief. There was really no reasonable explanation for why SSA Emily Prentiss was having a 'Gone with the Wind' moment with her former boss in her apartment.

The unwanted FBI agents began to disperse as the paramedics sidled alongside Morgan demanding his attention. He nodded and pointed to the front door, suddenly realizing that Hotchner was spying on them. The older profiler beckoned the group forward and stepped out of the doorway to allow the male and female paramedic access.

'Up the stairs, turn right, second door on the right' he directed the medical technicians in his trademark clipped voice; his eyes however never left Derek's face.

As the younger man closed the door, he held the back of his head with both hands ready to face his mentor.

'How is she?' was of course his first question.

Aaron sighed, 'She seems to be okay but she hit her head on the toilet. She's more embarrassed now than anything'

Morgan huffed out a loud whoosh of air as he looked out the window.

'Tell me' Hotchner ordered.

Morgan knew the man long enough to know exactly what he was being asked.

He shook his head in his disbelief, 'JJ. She was in the bull pen when the call came in and she freaked out'

The older man nodded in understanding 'Postpartum depression, Haley had it too although I can't remember her having it for so long'

'The way she was carrying out you would think Em's was being murdered!' he related in frustration, 'how could having one little baby, make her so crazy?'

'Morgan?'

'Yeah?'

'I wouldn't repeat that to her if I were you. She's not in control of her actions perhaps she needs to see her doctor'

The young man whipped out his blackberry and waved it at his friend, 'Way ahead of you man. I'll drive her myself, if Will can't'

Hotchner nodded, approving of the affirmative action, 'Tell the boys as soon as Prentiss is checked out, she'll call them on Reid's phone'

Turning to leave he was stopped as Derek grasped his arm, 'Hotch, this is going to be all over the office. What are we going to do?'

With one foot on the stairs he turned to the man, 'I'll talk to Strauss directly, it's me she's gunning for Derek. You should try and fly under her radar for as long as possible'

He raised his hand to cut off the younger agent's protest, 'Just take care of the rest, I've got this'

As they separated in the hall, Aaron took the stairs with a heavy heart. He could just imagine the conversation with the lead agent in the morning.

'_I understand Emily is not feeling well'_ Strauss would comment with insincere concern. It would then probably be followed with a catty '_but was it necessary to make such a spectacle of yourselves?' _

Aaron didn't care much about his career advancement but he would be damned if anyone cast aspersions on such a fine agent as Emily Prentiss. His personal feelings aside, she was a credit to the bureau and they were lucky to have her. She was going places, he just knew it. However, this was just the opportunity Strauss was looking for inorder to make him squirm. The Supervisor had no idea how petty and insignificant her jealousy was in the whole scheme of things. Didn't she realise that he would step infront a bullet for that woman upstairs? There was nothing that Strauss could demand that he would not do to keep the record of his agent clean. He could and would grovel with the best of them without batting an eye.

He paused at the doorway of the bedroom.

'Excuse me' he interrupted, 'why are you looking under her nightgown, if she has a head wound?'

The male paramedic spun around startled, obviously not hearing his approach.

'Sir' he began blocking the entrance with his body, 'perhaps I can ask you to wait outside while we finish our examination'

The man's body language left no room for interpretation and Hotch raised his hands in a placating gesture, 'that is fine, I just want to know why your colleague…'

'Sir I am going to have to ask you to take a step back' the other interrupted nervously as he took in the stern looking man infront of him, 'I am not going to ask you again!'

Hotch stood about 5 inches taller and outweighed the paramedic by about thirty pounds and for one second he thought about sweeping the irritating man to one side. Then his mind flashed back to the conversation in the bathroom remembering vividly how she had scuttled away from him. She had also been extraordinarily upset when she had found out that he had called the paramedics. His stomach dropped like a stone when he put these disturbing observations together.

'Emily!' he called walking forward but he was stopped as the determined young technician flung out his hands to bar his way.

She looked up then and just managed to see Hotch trying to get to her side, before the male paramedic closed the door firmly behind him.


	5. Tell me your secrets

The _'Gone with the wind'_ moment I referred to in the last chapter maybe unfamiliar to my younger readers. _Gone with the wind_ was a 1939 movie classic and had many memorable moments including one in which the heroine is carried in her heroes' arms (one of them at least) up a magnificent staircase.

Chapter 5- Tell me your secrets

The female paramedic was helping her ease her nightgown over her legs when she heard a familiar voice call out to her. Unexpectedly her bedroom door was closed, shutting her off from Hotch.

'Sally, what is your partner doing!?' Emily said sharply as her gut tensed uncertainly.

The older woman gave her a motherly pat on the knee as she packed up her monitoring equipment, 'He's just keeping your young man company so that we can have a little chat'

Emily glanced again at the closed door half expecting to hear the paramedic's body slamming against a convenient wall.

'I don't think that's such a good idea' the young profiler said, 'Aaron's errr…a little jumpy at the moment'

Sally pounced on that opening with practiced ease, 'and when Aaron is upset, how does that make you feel? Does it make you afraid?'

Prentiss narrowed her eyes at the woman sitting next to her. Yes, she was a little high on cold medicine, but there was definitely something off about this conversation.

'What are you talking about?' she asked in bewilderment, 'Yes I am afraid, afraid that your partner is going to be beaten to a jelly'

Sally had picked up a bottle of cold medication from the side table to inspect, 'So you agree that Aaron has a violent temper?'

Emily had to gape at this question.

'My dear let us be frank, you have an unusual amount of bruises in different stages of healing all over your body especially on your back and hips. Would you like to tell me how this happened?' Sally asked as gently as she could.

The young agent started to laugh but her amusement faded quickly as she lapsed into a fit of coughing. The medical technician was trying to profile her and not doing a particularly good job of it. Still, Sally the paramedic, probably saw plenty of domestic violence cases in her line of work and her recent bruises from the last case had sent up a red flag with the woman.

She accepted a few sips of water from the well meaning lady, 'Aaron's my work colleague, not my boyfriend and the injuries are job related. I work in law enforcement'

Sally eyed her suspiciously for a few long moments but something finally convinced her that Emily was being truthful.

'I am glad but Emily I have seen the rage before. Your friend is riding on a thin line' the woman added fretfully.

Sally may have been wrong about everything else but she was right about this.

'I know and thank you for your concern' Emily said gently taking the woman's hand in hers, 'and thank you for your courage. No matter what anyone says, you did not deserve to be struck'

Sally's eyes opened wide and she jumped up in shock as her patient's words hit home. Automatically she was about to say something defensive, but the compassion and understanding in the woman's brown eyes changed her mind.

Smiling uncertainly Sally went to the door to rescue her partner.

Emily pressed her lips together in amusement as she saw the famous Hotchner scowl in full effect as the door was opened. Sally's colleague had a set of brass ones to stand up to that glower when even seasoned FBI agents inevitably scampered for safety if they were ever unfortunate enough to cross his path. A little verbal altercation took place at the door before the young man raised his voice clearly enough to be heard, 'Well let's just ask, shall we? Miss, is it alright to let this man into your room?'

She had to bite her lips hard so she would not laugh when Hotch folded his arms and gifted the technician with a distinctly soured look. She nodded not trusting herself to speak as yet. Aaron strode across the room after giving his 'companion' a withering look of scorn and for the first time she noticed that his shoes were missing. He eased himself down on the mattress and held her hand as he made his own visual assessment of her condition. Sally saw how the agent cradled the woman's hand to his chest as if it was made out of glass.

_Not my boyfriend indeed!_

The young law enforcement lady may have discovered her secret but she couldn't see what was right under HER nose_._

'Does she need to go to the hospital?' Aaron asked without preamble.

'Well in my opinion no, although she will have to if she does not drink more fluids to replace what she has lost. That's a nasty flu she has managed to catch' Sally responded draping her stethoscope absentmindedly over her shoulders.

'I will ensure she drinks more' he promised, 'I take it there are no signs of concussion?'

Hotch was grateful to observe the shaking of the two technician's heads.

'But just in case, she shouldn't be left alone' Sally warned giving her new friend a conspiratorial wink over the profiler's dark head.

Hotch stood then and shook the paramedic's hand. He even managed to nod affably at the young man in the duo, so happy he was to be able to give his team and Jack good news. Sally had to drag her partner out the room though, as he was not at all confident about leaving their patient alone with this angry and positively terrifying man.

With a sigh Aaron resumed his seat but this time he supported himself by placing his hands on either side of her body. He leaned in closer until he was about a foot away and for a moment they just looked at each other.

'Hi' she said quietly as his intense stare was beginning to unsettle her. She knew she must look like a fright but pragmatically she pushed that concern to one side.

'Hi' he responded just as quietly, never taking his eyes off her face.

She contemplated telling him Sally's fears but she quickly discarded that idea. Aaron was not the type of man to laugh at himself. Just as she was making that decision, the man in question reached up to return her fallen nightgown strap to her shoulder. His fingers skimmed her bare skin before settling into their previous position on the mattress. She had felt his touch all the way down to her toes and in all the spaces in between.

'I don't like when you have secrets from me' he whispered to her.

There was no right way to reply to something like that so she averted her gaze, choosing to fiddle with one of his shirt button instead. As they had tightened their search parameters in their last case, the Unsub had made a bold offensive move. Unfortunately it was she he had cornered in an empty corridor of the hotel they were staying at. He had caught her by surprise and she had lost her weapon in the melee. The struggle had been ferocious as he was much stronger than her and he had actually managed to hit her against the floor a few times. However, so intent was he on his new 'prize' that he didn't notice Reid sneaking up behind him. One well timed blow to the Unsub's head with his new 'Yes you can learn Russian' textbook and that was all she wrote. Emily had taken a hot shower as directed and had stumbled to her room to sleep it off. As was her way, she had downplayed the whole incident the next day, not wanting anyone to fuss. Really, how could some bruises compare to the stabbing injuries Aaron had recently sustained.

She could feel the strength of his gaze on her face, silently waiting her out while she gathered her thoughts. With a little exasperated huff she looked up at him.

'I don't like when you have secrets from me' he again repeated, 'Blink twice if you understand me'

She blinked twice.

**Authors note: A special hello to Amy. I am so glad you like my story. Your reviews give me great pleasure. I hope you liked this chapter, I think it turned out very well.**


	6. I am a good boy

Chapter 6- I am a good boy

Aaron propped himself on the wall next to the window, pleased at the peaceful scene below. The ambulance with its disturbing siren lights was gone, and his team members had parked their cars in a neat row along the street. Only his car remained in the small apartment tenant lot. Dave and Morgan had managed to scrounge up a baseball from somewhere and they were tossing it around to keep warm and pass the time. Reid and Jack were still sitting in his car chatting, singing songs and of course laughing every time Morgan pretended to drop the ball. Unfortunately Jack was not dressed warmly enough to permit him to play.

It had been a false alarm and everything was more or less settled but still the men lingered not willing to leave. Hotch, Morgan, Rossi and Reid had a 100% confidence in their female team members but still years of socialization came into play. In their subconscious, any threat to JJ, Garcia and Emily always affected them deeply.

Glancing back he smiled as Emily eagerly dialed Reid's cell phone number. His heart warmed at the excited look on her face and the way her eyes lit up as the voice she wanted to hear filled the line.

'Jack! Honey, how are you?' she said warmly.

She listened for a moment before replying with, 'I am feeling much better. Your daddy is taking good care of me'

Hotch rolled his eyes as she winked at him and turned back to the window. He had only allowed her access to her phone when she had finished off two cups of water.

The impromptu game had stopped and everyone was gathered around the passenger window of his car listening to the side of the conversation that he couldn't hear.

'Hmmm…' his patient said in a contemplative voice, 'Well if your Uncle Reid said it was Stegosaurus and not a Tyrannosaurus, then I would believe him'

She smiled at his response and then covered the mouthpiece with one hand, 'your son wants to take Spencer to school for show and tell'

'If it's okay with Morgan, then it's fine with me' the usually serious minded agent threw out teasingly over his shoulder.

Just then a familiar lipstick red Volkswagen beetle trundled down the street and turned into the parking lot. Garcia popped out and began pulling plastic sacks out of her car as well as a small polka dotted suitcase and a matching overnight bag. She almost slipped on the wet concrete as she tried to carry everything at once. The guys came to her rescue and she dashed over to look at Jack, her Santa had bobbing madly ontop her head.

'Hi Penelope' Emily greeted her friend on the telephone. She was relieved the woman had stopped to visit because she would need to use the bathroom soon and no way was she going to ask her former boss for his assistance. She would rather die first.

Aaron crossed the room about to help with Garcia's shopping, grateful she had thought of such. The suitcase seemed to indicate that she was willing to spend the night, and he experienced a pang of regret realising that he was about to get voted off the island. The blonde technician would probably be ten times a better nurse than him even on one of her rare bad days. He looked back reluctant to let Prentiss out of his sight any faster than he needed to.

In the meantime, Emily was struggling to focus on the conversation as Jack jumped from one topic to the next. After a few more minutes she knew she had to give up.

'Okay waffle monster, I am going to go now' Emily said soothingly as she felt the edges of a headache start to creep over her, 'Aw honey, don't cry.'

Emily wrestled with the heavy cover as she attempted to get up. Without waiting for permission, Hotch scooped her up and gently deposited her on the window's sofa bench.

'Look, see I am right here' she said coaxingly waving merrily to try and stop his tears, 'I haven't gone anywhere. See look your dad's here too'

She quickly transferred the phone to his concerned parent, 'Son? What's wrong?'

He could barely make out what his son was saying over his sobs.

'I want Emmy!' he wailed, 'I'll be a good boy, I WANT EMMY!'

Aaron thunked his forehead helplessly on the glass window as his son continued to scream the same two sentences over and over. Emily had burrowed her face into his neck and he held her close with one arm as she began to tremble. Should he go down there and try to talk to Jack? Would he understand that the reason his dad didn't want to hold him was because he needed to take a Lysol shower first and not because he was a bad boy. It was something that had torn at his heart ever since the funeral. Jack had taken to sleeping with him and almost every night he would waking up sobbing, convinced his mommy had gone away because he wasn't a good boy. Now it seemed he had transferred his fear to this situation and to this woman.

Garcia came on the line, 'Sir, I'll see what I can do'

The line hummed as she disconnected. Desperately the two agents watched as Penelope rubbed soothing circles on Jack's back rocking him instinctively to and fro. Morgan had stalked off and was now staring at a blank wall a little way off; not able to listen to the little boy's cries any longer. Dave had folded his arms and was looking down at his feet but stood close by giving his silent support. Reid, on the other hand, was rummaging in all his pockets and his messenger bag before finding his 'magic' coin.

Gamely he took Jack from the young technician and sat him down on the seat facing him. He held the large, bright coin infront Jack's face and over and over he made the coin reappear and disappear. Slowly the little boy's huge, hiccupping sobs quieted as he caught sight of the bright penny that was here one moment and gone the next. Confused Jack made a grab for the shiny object and began to smile as his uncle made the coin appear from his ear, under his arm and his hair.

In his mind Hotch was already promising himself to go and buy one of those futuristic coffee making machines along with some high end coffee for their youngest profiler. Some of the really nice beans that they brought in over the mountains by burro might be good enough to thank Reid for his truly inspired distraction.

The team now took the opportunity to stealthily switch places. Jack was being given a piggy back ride by Morgan after being wrapped up in Reid's jacket and purple scarf. Rossi, Penelope and Hotch had formed a chain gang to efficiently move all the supplies from the parking lot up to Emily's room and Reid was fast asleep in Hotch's car, more tired from his one hour of babysitting duty than from his whole day at work.

The former lead agent had then been assigned by Garcia to change the bed linens while she gave Emily a sponge bath in the nearby bathroom. He had taken a moment to corner the computer tech to apologise for his earlier rudeness. She had patted his chest and told him brightly that 'all was forgiven' but as he stretched his aching back he had to wonder. For the last twenty minutes she had kept him on a short leash running one errand after another.

'Sir, are you there?' she called to him gaily.

He suppressed a real desire to yell, 'WHAT NOW!?' but kept his thoughts to himself as he collected the almost half asleep patient from the bathroom and transferred her to the freshly made bed.

'Oh Hotch, can you get my handbag? I left it on my front seat' the vibrant young woman sweetly asked, carelessly throwing him the keys.

Aaron paused long enough to glare down at the diminutive agent, letting her know that he was wise to her antics. She returned his gaze with an innocent and completely insincere smile. Resignedly, he tramped down the staircase wondering what fresh torture Garcia had in store for him when he returned. He wasn't surprised that she was annoyed and wanted a little revenge but did she have to take so much pleasure from it. That smile she had given him, made her look like some evil caricature of the elf she was dressed as. Curiously though, as he hit the first floor, he could clearly hear Reid arguing with someone. He hustled over to the front door, speculating as to what new crisis was waiting to happen on the other side.

'I absolutely forbid you!' Reid fired off angrily.

This obviously was the wrong thing to say as the distinctive sounds of an open handed slap reverberated like a pistol shot.

**Author's note: Oh no only two reviews, have I lost my audience? **


	7. Follow the leader

**This chapter is for msgrl. I hope you feel better today**

Chapter 7- Follow the leader

The senior profiler stood on the handkerchief sized porch with his hands on his hips. Meanwhile, Reid was on the ground cradling his stinging cheek and cowering against the hubcap. Instinctively he had curled himself into a ball as his assailant raised her dainty foot to kick him.

'JJ!!!!!!' Hotch bellowed in outrage.

Whatever Aaron had envisioned certainly didn't include their usually unflappable communications officer attacking their youngest and still recovering team member. In fact it hadn't even made the list of things he was thinking off. Really, what was wrong with everyone tonight!

Morgan slid smoothly on the bonnet of the car while Dave circled around to the left to grasp the irate woman's arms. Derek may now be the team leader but old habits died hard as all eyes turned to Aaron for direction in the face of this unprecedented theat.

By now JJ was sobbing almost hysterically as her brain had finally caught up with her actions. Her captors became her supports as she leaned heavily into them, crushed that she had struck her beloved colleague and friend. Following a curt nod from the taller man, they released her and rushed forward to collect their fallen comrade. With Reid in tow they scrabbled backwards as they quickly took refuge behind Hotch's car abandoning the profiler to his fate.

Agent Jareau covered her face in her hands so that she wouldn't have to see Aaron's disappointment. She was not surprised when she felt his warm hand on her shoulder gently but firmly guiding her back to her vehicle. She still wasn't sure what had happened. Reid had stood in her path when she had informed him that she was here to check on Emily. He hadn't thought it was such a great idea for the mother of his godson to expose herself to the flu virus. Henry was not even a year old, he had naively commented. She had felt her temper rise then, as she believed that underneath his words Reid was implying she was a bad mother. As he stammered and stuttered saying one wrong thing after the other she had just…err…snapped.

Hotch opened the back seat and gently guided her in and immediately she hugged Henry's empty car seat. He looked down at her bent head as she burst into fresh tears, alternating between 'I'm fine' and 'Is Reid okay?' in a continuous gut wrenching loop. They had all seen some signs of the depression when she had come back to work after the delivery, but it had been little things. A snide comment there, a crying jag there and the whopper which had happened one rainy Tuesday when she had eaten all the lunches in the BAU communal fridge. Through it all she had maintained her professionalism and besides from them no one else had noticed. Nothing serious had occurred to compare with what had just happened here. Well unless you took into account whatever happened at Haley's funeral.

He knew the team was trying to protect him, but he had been their leader for years and a profiler for even longer than that. In the midst of his misery it hadn't escaped his attention that the team had surrounded JJ at all times during the ceremony. Every time he had a moment to look across someone was touching her, reassuring her that they were all there. He hadn't inquired but he had caught Dave's eye during one of the eulogies. With a raise of his eyebrows and a nod of the head, he asked Rossi what had happened. Rossi had shaken his head and lightly touched Jareau's arm letting him know not to worry about it and that he would handle the situation.

He hadn't had the opportunity then to get close to her during the funeral and now he didn't want to risk transferring any of Emily's germs to her. He needed some help here. His fellow agents however were huddled together like frightened sheep clearly indicating that they did not think it was safe to break cover just yet. Surely these were not the same men who hunted down rapists, murders and kidnappers on an almost daily basis. In fact the only male who appeared to be calm in all of this was Jack. Morgan had perched him on Penelope's car when he had dashed forward to help Reid and there he had sat patiently, waving his feet and playing with a bright pink troll doll from Aunty Penny.

He waved his troll as he saw his father watching him, 'Is Aunty JJ sick too, Daddy?'

Reid could see the light bulb go off over the older profiler's head and quickly saw the snag in the plan. He hesitated for a moment but his concern for the woman who was closer to him than any sister could be, caused him to push his fears to one side. He reached out and cradled Jack into his arms and carefully carried him the short distance to JJ's car. Discerning eyes cut to the pronounced limp now present in his step and no one missed the fact that he had hopped the last few feet before gently placing the little boy in the back seat. He paused long enough to lovingly kiss JJ's curtain of blonde hair before stumbling into the warmth of Hotch's car.

Aaron knelt to get an eye level view with his boy, 'Son we have a problem here. We have two sick ladies, Aunty JJ and Aunty Emmy. What are we going to do?'

Jack shrugged his little shoulders, 'I don't know Daddy'

Hotch had almost reached out his hand to place it ontop Jack's arm before snatching it away, 'How about I take care of Emily and you take care of Aunty JJ?'

The little toddler scrunched his face as if thinking and nodded his head vigorously, 'That's a good idea daddy'

'That's a good boy' he said proudly, 'So what I want you to do is give Aunty JJ one of your special hugs and talk to her. What do you say sport, can you help out daddy?'

The profiler's stern features relaxed into a real smile as his son nodded confidently.

'What should I talk about?' he asked, looking up trustingly to his father for the right answer.

'Talk to her about anything you like but you have to keep your voice nice and low, like how I am speaking to you now'

JJ was watching this conversation with a hopeful expression and when Jack turned to her with an expectant look she held out her arms and he crawled into them laying his dark head down on her chest. With a contented sigh he reached his little arms as far as they would go around her back and hugged her tightly.

'Aunty JJ, I am going to tell you my ABCs ' he announced solemnly to her belly before proceeding to do just that.

The tension whooshed out of her body like a popped hot air balloon and gratefully she bowed her head protectively over his.

No father could be prouder than Hotch at that moment as he stretched to his full height. Jack had now launched into the immortal classics which featured such treasures as 'Mary had a little Lamb' and 'Twinkle, Twinkle little star'. The others approached, a little ashamed of their behaviour but not having any explanation for their actions which seemed so right at the time. The older profiler had smugly stored the whole incident away in his mind for use at some party or dinner in the near future. With another crisis successfully diverted they stood listening to Jack's highly original version of the First Christmas. According to the youngest Hotchner, two dolphins and one zebra had also been in attendance to the baby Jesus along with the cows and donkeys.

With smiles all round, Hotch gestured for Morgan to follow him back inside.

'Nice save man' Derek remarked fervently as they walked into the living room.

He grinned at the dark skinned man, 'It was all Jack, I take no credit'

'What's up?' the young man enquired, 'the girls need something done upstairs?'

'Morgan, I think it's time everyone went home. What do you think?' Hotch asked cautiously, not wanting to seem as if he was giving orders.

His friend nodded scrubbing his shaven head tiredly with one hand.

Tentatively Aaron came a little closer trying to find the right words, 'Morgan, there's something that I should have given you awhile now and I'm sorry that it's taken this long.'

Derek gave the senior agent a puzzled look as Hotch took out his key ring with the team's keys on it, and laid them gently on the kitchen counter between them.

'I meant no disrespect' he added quietly, before walking away.

**Author's note: Thanks to all my reviewers. Once I know a handful of you are out there and are entertained, I am happy. I am both thrilled and upset that so many of you said that you were almost in tears during Jack's scene. Thrilled because I caused an emotional response in my reader and upset that I made you all sad at this festive time. I will try to be more mellow in the future.**

_**Kavi,**_** I agree with you in that Reid would be fascinating to young children. Teenagers might not get him but a small toddler I am sure would find him most engaging with all his facts and figures. **_**Abunnymom, **_**thanks for the chapter by chapter review. I suppose it's because I am not a mom that I am not realistically portraying the parenting angle in the story. **


	8. Shall we disuss this over tea?

**Anote**: I am still experimenting with the amount of dark and light to have in a chapter. This time I am going with two cups fluff and one cup angst. Let me know if I should change the recipe.

Chapter 8- Shall we discuss this over tea?

'Sir, are you alright?' Garcia queried worriedly, 'I heard shouting'

She and Hotchner danced for a few seconds after having colliding at the top of the stairs.

'Where's Emily?' he asked instead settling the blonde woman securely on her feet, 'I need her'

Whoa, I need her, Penelope thought in wonder fanning herself vigorously in her mind.

'Ammm…she's resting' she replied to his back as he stalked off.

She lengthened her stride to match his. She may not be a profiler like him but her intuition said that something was amiss.

He had one hand on the door knob when he turned to look at the anxious woman, 'Why don't I sit with her a spell and you can…take a shower and get ready for bed'

The young technician wrung her hands nervously as she uncertainly turned away.

'I'm fine' he lied.

Hotch waited patiently until she had disappeared into the bathroom before entering the room. Just being able to see Emily's face was like a balm to his suddenly troubled mind. She slept peacefully, thank god, and her face was free from any lines of strain and worry. Like a puppet that had its string cut, the older agent sank to the floor close to the bed head so that he could be near her face. He listened to the rhythmic sounds of her breathing allowing the sound to carry him into a meditative state. At one time he would have questioned when, how and why Emily had become so vital to his existence but of late he decided it was just best to go with the flow.

'I gave Morgan the team's keys' he confided to her quietly.

She of course said nothing, sleeping the deep sleep of the heavily medicated.

'I mean he's the team leader he should have them, right?' he questioned, his finger tracing the patterns in the bed spread.

His mind darted restlessly from one thought to the next. If she was awake she would say…well he didn't know what she would say only that it would be the just the right thing to say.

'I should have given it to him months ago, but it's …He's a really good leader, don't you think?' he added almost bitterly.

He listened a moment to the muted sound of Garcia singing 'Silent night' and turned around so that his back was against the mattress and the uncomfortable metal bed frame.

'When Rossi had come back to the BAU I had asked why and he said he was here to help. He didn't care that he didn't have seniority'

It would appear then that his mentor and old friend was a far better person than he was and as Aaron covered his face with his hands he was glad that she was asleep. He had lost his dream of family and his position on the team; he couldn't lose her respect too.

After her quick shower, Garcia tiptoed down the corridor and paused to press her ear against Emily's door. Hearing nothing she opened the door and peeped into the room.

'Sir?' she whispered into the dark.

Aaron started out of his trance when he heard her voice but clambered to his feet beckoning for her to come in. As he placed a comfortable seat for her near the bed, his eyes popped as he took in her colourful dressing gown. Only Garcia could pull of a garment that was decorated with skating penguins all wearing festive Christmas hats.

'Sir, I bought some tea and I was going to make a cup. Can I make you one?'

Hotch patted the back of the chair invitingly, 'No I'll make you one, any preference?'

Gracefully she seated herself pleased at his more calm and friendly behaviour, 'whatever you are having is fine'

She was startled when Hotch's arms surrounded her from behind as he bent to place a light kiss on cheek.

'You're the best, Garcia' he commented warmly.

He rolled his eyes at her cheeky, 'I know'

As he padded down the stairs he began switching off the unnecessary lights until he hit the kitchen where a nasty shock awaited him.

The bunch of keys was still on the counter.

They looked almost sinister as the harsh metal lines glinted in the strong overhead kitchen lights. He braced himself on the counter frowning down at them, wondering what this meant.

'Hotch?' a sleepy voice said.

The lead agent raised his head and could just make out a shadowy figure lying on the couch.

'Reid, where's Morgan?' he inquired swiftly, cautiously wending his way around the furniture.

'He's driving JJ home, and Rossi's following in his car to bring him back. Jack fell asleep, so JJ said she would take him for the night' the young profiler replied as he struggled to rise.

Aaron's eyes widened in fear as he looked at the pillows propping up the young man's leg, 'Are you in pain?'

'It's all stiff' he admitted, clutching the limb fretfully.

Reid smiled and snagged the hand Hotch was helplessly waving over the affected region, 'the pain will go away on its own. Are you going to make something to eat?'

'Garcia wants some tea' he said absentmindedly still worried about Reid's state. Lying down the way he was, made the thin young man look even more fragile.

The genius' eyes lit up at the mention of caffeinated drinks and Aaron hurried into the kitchen to put the kettle on.

Rummaging thorough the plastic sacks on the table he called, 'peppermint, citrus, raspberry or holiday spice?'

Reid narrowed his eyes at the unfamiliar selections and tentatively decided on the holiday spice. As the water boiled noisily, Hotch assembled cups and searched for milk and sugar.

'I don't know how Garcia takes her tea' the older man said out loud, berating himself for not asking.

'One sugar, two milk' the genius supplied.

He was about to ask his friend if he was sure but stopped himself just in time, 'and you?'

'Three sugars, no milk'

Hotch smiled down at the counter but said nothing as he mixed the requested ingredients.

A wonderful scent filled the air, and for a moment the holiday sprit washed liberally over them. Raising the young man to a sitting position, Hotch handed him his cup and generally hovered as Reid blew on the hot beverage to cool it.

'I am fine, Aaron' Spencer said patiently dropping the formality in the hope that the older agent would remember that he was not two years old.

He had toughed up considerably in the last couple of years but no one seemed to notice that.

'It's the cold weather that is making my leg cramp up' he explained, 'I am not going to die!'

Reid almost dropped his spice tea. Panicked he looked over at his friend, horrified at his callous and thoughtless remark.

Hocth slowly turned his head, nailing him with a frigid stare. The tension between them could have been cut with the proverbial knife.

Reid couldn't believe that he had done this twice in one night! Inwardly he cringed not knowing what to expect from the cold man at his side.

A teasing 'GOTCHA!" grin spread over Hotch's face, causing Reid to throw a couch pillow at him in amused frustration.

Laughing, the older agent easily sidestepped the missile and patted the genius' shoulder asking him to send Morgan upstairs when he came in.

**Anote: Thanks to my reviewers and hello to 'House broken' who never fails to drop a line.**** The character Dave Rossi has just alerted me to the fact that he has no lines in this story so far and I have to admit I don't know what to do with him, any ideas?**


	9. A degree of trust

I missed some of the recent episodes of CMinds so I am not sure how and if they dealt with Hotch's demotion. I would think he would be a bit conflicted but would keep it to himself. So that was my take on the situation. This issue with the keys is also my invention if you are confused.

Chapter 9- A degree of trust

SSA Aaron Hotchner peered into his cup of tea as if it held the solution to all his problems. In actuality he was standing in the middle of the upstairs corridor marshalling his thoughts, running through the arguments and counter arguments to be used in his next conversation with the team's new leader. Although the team made a commendable attempt to stay out of each other's heads, subtle profiling took place on a daily basis. They couldn't switch off who they were just because they wished it that way. As such, he fully expected that when Morgan finally climbed the stairs, aggravation would be clearly outlined in his every step. A gentle hissing sound interrupted these disturbing thoughts and he peered down the staircase to investigate.

With a bemused expression he looked at the agent he was just thinking of, on his hands and knees polishing the stair rail.

'Hey' Morgan called out and tossed him his GO bag, 'I assume you are spending the night. Hotshot said you wanted to talk to me?'

The young man had noticed the growing intimacy that existed between his mentor and the brunette, his mad shoeless dash across the city giving loud testimony to the depth of his feelings towards one Emily Prentiss. Derek was happy for Hotch. Emily was a good woman, strong and loving. To say he was a bit concerned about the timing of it all would not be a lie. If Hotch was trying to forget his grief in their colleague's arms then mentor or not he would smash Aaron's face in the concrete and be damned with the consequences. But from all appearances they appeared to be in no rush and Jack had clearly placed his stamp on the proceedings which was an added bonus.

'How is JJ?' the former lead agent asked.

The younger man shook his head in disbelief, 'she's fine, if you can believe that. You would swear that she had not just gone postal on Reid'

Another bag was also tossed up the stairs containing the shoes he left behind and some extra pairs of wool socks.

'How did you get into my house if you left the team keys behind?' the stern man asked, grateful but confused.

Hiss Hiss…

Derek resumed his polishing, 'You left your front door wide open, man. It's a good thing Rossi had a brainwave to pass by your place'

Hotch had to sit down to fully take in what was just said, 'You have to be kidding me'

'I kid you not' he responded, 'getting senile in your old age huh, boss?'

He didn't respond to that jab as he was busy mentally flogging himself for this latest lapse in parenting. He was supposed to protect Jack! Some stranger could have been roaming their house by now and why? Because one of the team was in danger? He couldn't keep doing this to his boy.

This self torture was cut short when his colleague spoke up, 'Change in plans though, the guys elected to spend the night here instead of going home.'

'What? Why?' he asked in surprise.

'Have you showered yet? Well I would get to it within the next half hour. We will probably use out all the hotwater working on Reid's leg'

'Reid's leg?' he repeated stupidly.

Hiss Hiss

Morgan moved down a step to the next rail, 'We ordered some chicken subs. I'll put one on a tray and leave it on the staircase for you and tell babygirl, that I remembered to take out the mayo in her salad so she doesn't need to call me to check'

'Morgan, between Garcia and myself, I am sure we can handle any emergency' the man began smoothly, 'this is not….'

'You see right there' the younger man interrupted pointing his rag up at him 'that word emergency, I have a problem with it and so do the rest of the guys. Besides, it's best to keep an eye on junior. All we need tonight is for all us to be taking a nice ride up to the hospital because Reid's leg gives way on him in that cluttered, death trap of an apartment'

The team was getting too close, Hotch realised in concern. Couldn't Morgan see that and the inherent danger that posed? How could they keep their eye on Unsubs, if they were so busy watching each other? But one hurdle at a time he reminded himself. As it often happened in the field, it appeared that Derek was reading his mind.

'Oh and I put your keys in the side pocket of your bag, you left them on the kitchen counter. Hotch, you can't leave those lying about, it's not safe' the young man chastised him gently.

Oh.

So it was to be an indirect approach this time. Morgan was certainly expanding his repertoire.

Aaron stood and was about to descend the stairs when his companion pointed his spray can right in his face.

'Whoa, do you need something from the kitchen?' Derek inquired hastily, 'I just finished wiping down all the surfaces'

Now that he was closer Hotch could recognize that their new team leader was not turning into a dark skinned version of Mr. Clean but was instead clutching a can of Lysol 'Let's try and minimise infection here, boss. I don't want to be sick for Christmas'

Hotch climbed back to where his bag was and found the bunch of contentious keys. He really wished Morgan would stop calling him boss especially at a time like this.

'Derek' he began his voice breaking a little from sheer exhaustion 'these are the team's keys and the team's leader should have them'

He balanced his can on the banister for a moment, 'I agree the team leader should have keys'

This conversation was not going as he envisioned it would. He decided to hear the young man out so as to catch his bearings.

'But those keys were given to you and not to me' Morgan added and picked up his can again, indicating that he believed that was a satisfactory and complete explanation.

Hotch fingered the keychain in his hand. This discussion really wasn't about keys per se as various team members already had each other's keys. Morgan had Garcia's. He was pretty sure the girls had exchanged theirs, Dave had his and everybody had Spencer's, a secret he was sure would aggravate their youngest to no end because of the unstated implication. But this was the only keychain that had all seven together. Why was Morgan being so thick headed?

'Morgan, talk to me, we seem to be on different pages entirely' Hotch stated mildly irritated now. It wasn't like him to lose the thread of a conversation.

The man shook his head in exasperation, 'Don't you get it? Do you think we gave you our keys, because you were the boss?'

Well yes, was his first thought, but he opted for silence as Derek's earnest eyes bore into his.

'You have those keys because we know when everything's falling apart, that you're coming. And you're not going to stop until you find us' the young man stated grimly 'that degree of trust between two people is earned NOT given'

Morgan ascended the staircase and violating his own desire for limited contact he gripped Hotch's hand, and closed the man's fingers firmly over the disputed articles in his hand, 'And as far as I am concerned, YOU earned these keys and have the battle scars to prove it .I mean no disrespect Hotch, but I can earn my own damned set of keys!'

Morgan descended the stairs, aggravation clearly outlined in his every step.

'Well at least I got that part right' the older man muttered to no one in particular.

**Author's note: New reviewers, hoorah! I hope you liked this chapter; I was wiping away a tear or two.**** Hello Forensic Girl! Hope you are feeling tip top now msgrl.**

**This will be my last update for awhile as Christmas activities beckon. I will walk with my pen and paper as I am sure I will get stuck in traffic somewhere and hopefully I will put up something on Friday night. **


	10. A bit of misdirection

Who knew standing in line would be so inspiring! It's a little cliché but I couldn't get it out my head.

Chapter 10- A bit of misdirection

'Where's Hotch?' Rossi whispered joining Reid and Morgan in Garcia' deserted workstation.

The empty computer screens looked down at the little group suspiciously, the FBI logo winking in and out of existence as if signaling disapproval.

'In his office' Reid supplied, carefully mixing his chemicals together on a spare work space.

Morgan placed his hands on his hips shaking his head, 'Guys, is this such a good idea?'

The youngest agent head snapped up, 'It's only a bit of misdirection'

Of course the magician in the group would take that approach.

Unimpressed, their doubtful colleague waved a finger at him 'It's misrepresentation!'

All the pieces of the plan were in place. Derek knew that his man Reid would lend a hand but he hadn't expected Rossi to sign up.

'Don't be such a square, Morgan' Reid sneered at the new team leader.

'Gentlemen please' Dave commanded placing a calming hand on Derek's chest, 'What's the problem?'

Morgan shrugged and walked over to play with one of the colorfully decorated pens in a holder. They were meeting in here not only because it was empty as the warm hearted Garcia had cashed in one of her precious vacation days to stay with the sick Prentiss. They had chosen this location to avoid the sharp eyed glance of their communications officer, who Morgan was sure, would want in on the plan. In case it all went to hell, at least she would have deniable plausibility.

Morgan pondered Dave's question seriously for a moment before throwing his hands up in the air, 'I don't want to make a bad situation worse!'

His two colleagues watched the profiler pace up and down weighing a decision that he alone could make. For a second he wondered what Hotch would do in his place.

He turned to look at his co-conspirators, 'Gentlemen, places please!'

In the meantime, Hotch was struggling with his tie in a little mirror he had tacked up on the wall. His reflection frowned back at him, and he realised that the red tie wasn't going to work today.

To say he was irritated would be an understatement. He barely got any sleep as Emily's temperature had skyrocketed to 101F during the night with the wonderful addition of her vomiting up the water she managed to drink almost every two hours. Hotch could work on limited sleep but lack of sleep because you were on a stakeout was a far cry from when someone you cared about was retching hard enough to bring up a kidney. To top it all off she had locked him out of the bathroom. The sounds she made tore at his heart and mind until he felt like he was in pain too. He tried to reason with her through the door stating that he had seen worse. A sharp crash of a thrown blow dryer made him aware what she thought of that sentiment. In the morning he had to take a careful head to toe shower before driving Jack to school which resulted in him only managing to snag the last remaining homemade butter milk biscuit of JJ's reconciliatory breakfast. Now he had a meeting with Strauss in quarter of an hour. Sigh…what an awful day this was turning out to be with no end in sight.

Maybe he should go with the new silvery blue tie. Emily had liked that one. He would never forget the flirtatious glance she had given him while she fingered the edges. She had made his day and he had gone around with an extra pep in his step. He quickly looped the string around his neck preparing to tie it off.

The fever had broken sometime after four o'clock. Garcia, weary but determined had wrapped Emily in a fresh nightgown and placed her in his arms so she could change the sweat stained sheets. It was a relief to have her beautiful brown eyes resting on his face clear and full of life as opposed to unaware and feverish. Only belatedly he realised the computer tech had slipped away while they stared at each other like love sick morons. After that, every time he made an attempt to place her on the bed she made a noise of protest and held on to him a little tighter. How long had it been since he held a woman in his arms? In the beautiful silence of dawn he reveled in the warmth of her, the radiance from her eyes making him forget how broken and lost he was. For that hour he pushed to one side all thoughts of job and duty, doubts and fears, death and heartache.

A sharp rap on his office door woke him from his pleasant memory. Rossi poked his head in with an extra cup of coffee so naturally he was forgiven for his bad timing.

'Looking sharp' Dave commented handing him the cup pleased that his friend now appeared to be calm and collected.

Hotch took the cup quickly and swallowed the hot liquid gratefully. It had more milk than he liked but the caffeine rush was heavenly.

'You know what you are going to say?' the older profiler inquired, smoothing out the back of Aaron's shirt collar.

'Not really' he admitted.

Dave spun him around to check the front, 'You know what your problem is? You're too noble for your own good. Don't volunteer anymore information that you have to.'

Hotch nodded his head agreeing with this advice as the two agents walked side by side along the corridor adjacent to the bull pen. Reid saw them pass and immediately bent his head to send the signal via text message.

'What have people been saying?' the senior agent asked tentatively.

Rossi sighed heavily, if it was anyone else he would have deflected that question with ease but that wouldn't work here, not with this man.

'Reid's been taking the gossip temperature at the water coolers' he began hesitantly, 'There are talking about you and Emily three floors down and two floors up'

'God, it's worst that I thought' Hotch waved his coffee cup in dismay and anger.

His mentor clasped his shoulder bracingly, 'You know as well as I do, that something will happen this weekend and they will all be talking about that on Monday'

Once again, Dave's pragmatic approach and attitude had helped him to refocus, 'Thanks I needed that'

They had turned the corner and it would appear that the Director already had a visitor. Hotch almost dropped his cup when he recognised that it was Morgan but Morgan as he had never seen him before. Next to JJ, Derek was the by far the sharpest dresser in the team but today he had outdone himself. He wore designer dark slacks with matching jacket and his black silk tie accentuated the shirt magnificently. With his shoes buffed to a high polish, he looked like if he had just walked off the cover of GQ and into the building. Morgan stood up on a chair to hang a Christmas wreath for Strauss and Aaron almost swallowed his tongue when he realised that Strauss had moved to enjoy the view of his back.

'Hey, you've got a bit of a milk moustache' Dave absurdly commented in light of what was going on before their eyes. So distracted was he that he didn't protest when his old friend pulled out his handkerchief to wipe away the excess milk.

Of all sudden Hotch desperately needed to sneeze and so he did, loudly and violently. Inexplicably that sneeze was followed by another and then another until he couldn't see or think straight. His head was going to explode!

'Dave?' he managed in between sneezes, 'What?'

'You'll thank me later' Rossi promised removing the coffee mug from his hand and propelling him with a sharp push through the Director's door.

**Anote: Thank you mamacrime25 for the heads up about the leadership dynamics and hello to abunnymum and kavi for taking the time to give such detailed reviews. All I can say is in my daydreams/imagination the team doesn't stay in character all the time. Emily is softer than her ballsy persona on the small screen and Reid is still a sweet geek who dresses funny, not this long haired uber agent that the producers are turning him into. **


	11. A clean getaway

**If you like Strauss****, then skip this chapter**

Chapter 11- A clean getaway

'Hotch!' Morgan boisterously called out, 'Didn't I tell you to stay home?'

He jumped nimbly off his chair and hurried to the older man's side guiding him into the office. As expected Strauss stepped back horrified that the senior agent was sneezing uncontrollable all over her office.

Morgan hugged his colleague hard to his side like a proud father and turned to the director, 'Isn't he a trooper? He would come to work even if he was dead'

It was all that the profiler could do to hold on to his head so speaking was quite out of the question. He leaned heavily on Derek trusting in him to be his eyes while he hunted for his handkerchief. Obliging, the BAU leader installed him in a chair as close to the director's desk as possible. She gingerly moved a box of Kleenex towards the man and wheeled her own lounge chair away.

'I have a report here that SSA Prentiss is on sick leave' she began raising a voice a little to be heard over the man's thunderous sneezes.

She was actually reading a random sheet of paper off her desk so as to better disguise her shock at Hotchner's condition. The Director had the whole conversation planned but she forgot all of it as the man infront her clutched his head in his hands. What point was there in tormenting the proud and willful agent when he couldn't even hear anything?

Morgan patted the older man's head solicitously, 'It looks like Hotch may have caught it too when he picked up Emily from the ground. She fainted you see'

Hotch shook his head in denial.

'She fainted!' Strauss exclaimed in an appalled voice.

Good God, she hoped it was not catching. Her carefully planned holiday celebrations would be ruined!

Morgan helpfully sailed in, 'It was terrible ma'am. Fever, vomiting the works…I don't think I have ever seen anyone more sick!'

The Director flew out her chair as if she had been shot, 'Well…Aaron, while your dedication is commendable perhaps it would be best if you take the rest of the day off. In fact perhaps you should take the rest of the week to be absolutely sure. I'll make certain that cases are rerouted to the secondary teams'

'Ma'am that is …extremely kind of you! I am sure if Aaron could talk he would say the same thing' Derek exclaimed in wondrous surprise.

Strauss smiled at the dark skinned man and had to suppress a teenage like giggle when he winked roguishly at her.

'Let me just get him out of here' he interjected smoothly raising the half blind, half deaf agent off the chair, 'and I'll help you with the rest of these decorations, shall I?'

Strauss nodded pleased at this outcome. She had gotten rid off the unpleasant flu ridden Hotchner and she could enjoy Agent Morgan's delectable company for awhile longer. The day was looking up!

Morgan hustled his friend out of the office and pitched him towards the outstretched arms of the waiting Reid and Rossi. Gamely they caught his weight and they struggled like three drunks down the corridor. Derek's smile had reassured them that their little plan had worked. Exultantly they dragged their unfortunate associate into the men's room and propped him up on a toilet.

'Good work' Dave crowed, 'Hand me the antidote'

Reid watched a little concerned at the bout of sustained sneezing emanating from his co- worker.

'Antidote?' he squeaked, 'The sneezing powder only has an efficacy time of five minutes. How much did you pour on your handkerchief?! I said a pinch!'

'A pinch?' Rossi questioned, 'Why did you make a whole bowl if I was supposed to use a pinch?'

Hotch glared malevolently at the two men, as his nose dripped and his eyes watered. His sinuses may have been incapacitated but his brain was working just fine. How could they do this to him!

'Ah well….we'll all look back on this and laugh some day' the older man added patting the youngster's arm consolingly.

Thankfully, the sneezes died down to within the next half hour to about three per minute. Reid had scuttled off, scared that he would be blamed for this little hiccup in the plan, no pun intended. To complete the scenario, Dave had magnanimously offered to drive his colleague home, sweeping him into a manly embrace infront the entire bullpen as he helped his afflicted friend into the elevator. Hotch didn't know if he was more shocked at the plan that was concocted, or the fact the Dave was a willing participant. Rossi was oblivious to these thoughts as it was obvious that he had gotten quite caught up in the swing of things. He stuffed Hotch into the passenger seat and tossed his belongings energetically into the back.

As they drove out of the FBI's underground parking lot he turned to the younger man with a loud, 'that was fun!'

Hotch didn't dare speak as he was petrified that the sneezing would resume. Instead he scowled at his friend, promising with his eyes that he would visit unspeakable tortures on his person if he didn't wipe that infuriating grin off his face. He could a feel a sizeable headache coming on and with a moan he rested his head wearily on the door frame.

Rossi ignored all of this with a roll of his eyes. Sometimes he had to wonder which one of them was older. Aaron was such a stick in the mud at times. It was such a wonderful plan, elegant and simple. With it they were able to get some much needed downtime for Hotch as well as a reprieve before addressing the sticky issue of a romantic liaison between two BAU team members. Unless Morgan or Reid ratted them out no one would know of their little ruse. Hotch would have to stay indoors though, but since he was taking him to Emily's, he was sure that Aaron would be happy to stay out of sight. Dave wasn't remorseful at all. Strauss had it in for the team, anyone could see that and she seemed to take a perverse delight in harassing Aaron especially. It wasn't their fault that she had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Anyway this was about Hotch and Jack, not her. After the heartbreak of this year's events, Jack deserved to have his father home for Christmas!

As he swung into Emily's apartment complex, Dave went over Morgan's instructions in his head. He was to escort Hotch up the stairs to Emily's room. Hotch was not to sit in their living room nor use the kitchen facilities. He was instead to relieve Garcia and not fret about deceiving a superior officer. If all else failed Morgan had told him to bribe the former lead agent into submission by promising him a big stack of paper work when one of them swung by at lunchtime.

With a flourish Rossi opened the front door, 'Honey, we're home!'

**Author's note: I wasn't sure about this chapter at all. I was trying to make it amusing but I think I may have strained the limits of believability**** too far. Review and let me know if you enjoyed the chapter even though it out of character for the BAU. **


	12. Before the storm

Chapter 12- Before the storm

'Garcia' Hotch whispered quietly, shaking the sleeping technician awake.

She had fallen asleep in the chair next to Emily's bed and was perilously perched to one side, close to falling on the floor.

'Sir?' she murmured, 'I thought you went to work. Is something wrong? Morgan?'

Prentiss snored lightly unaware she had company in her bedroom.

'Shhhh, everything's fine. Morgan is fine' he reassured her, 'but I am here now so let's get you to bed'

She shook her head trying to clear the remaining cobwebs, 'Oh no sir, you should get some sleep…I was …I was just resting my eyes'

But the senior agent was unmoved and he gently grasped her by the arms and propelled her into the adjoining guest room. Untangling the sheet he waited as she clambered in. The slight tremor in her fingers did not escape his notice.

'Are you alright?' he probed lightly.

'Me ...I'm great! How are you?' she said too brightly, pasting a brittle smile on her face.

He stared down at her letting her know that he was waiting for the truth.

'Coffee withdrawal sir' she admitted sheepishly.

Sitting at the edge of the bed he smiled, smoothing her hair back, 'Get some rest and I will get you a coke later. You did a fine job last night. I couldn't have done it without you'

She smiled a genuine smile then. Hotch was usually so contained but she always suspected that he had unplumbed depth. The other techs had wondered how she could work with him. The man never smiled, they would all say, pitying her for her supposed misfortune. If they could just see him now, they wouldn't say mean things about her boss. His warm words had touched her deeply as they always did and she felt treasured and protected as he stayed, watching her until she fell asleep.

Hotch frowned as she finally closed her eyes. They would have to keep an eye on Penelope. It wouldn't do for another one of the girls to get ill on his watch. He would drop a hint to Morgan at lunch. By unspoken agreement they had more or less divided the protection and well being of the ladies among them. Morgan was closest to Garcia, Reid focused on JJ and he of course kept an eye on Prentiss. They were of course careful not to let the girls know of this.

With one last look he closed the blinds and returned to Emily's room. His stomach was starting to hurt from that bout of sneezing and with a groan he sank onto the bed and kicked off his shoes, removing his jacket in the process. He put his hand under his shirt to uselessly massage the affected region. As his exhaustion crept over him like a living thing, he let his face fall into his hands.

Emily wasn't sure what had awakened her but she blinked and peered around the room with bleary eyes, looking for Garcia. She was startled to see Aaron sleeping next to her on the bed and initially drew back in surprise. She rolled her eyes amused at her own actions. She was acting like a frightened virgin. Propping her head up on her hand she turned on her side to enjoy the landscape. He looked sinfully delicious in his long shirt sleeves and office slacks plus he was wearing her favourite tie! His hair fell over his face in a devil me care fashion. Her desire to know what had happened in his face off with Strauss battled with a protective need to let him sleep. By unspoken agreement they had more or less divided the protection and well being of the men among them. Garcia kept Morgan in check, JJ always had Reid's back and she of course kept an eye on the Hotchner males. They were of course careful not to let the boys know of this.

Besides, if he was awake, he would never allow her to look at/stare at his handsome features. Aaron's brow was smooth and a light smile touched his lips as he slept. With one hand covering his heart and the other at his side he looked like a school boy about to recite the national anthem. Hesitantly she reached forward to smooth down the tie that had gotten all bunched up under his hand. She also noticed that his shirt had come un tucked from his pants and she could just make out the pale flesh of his stomach. Her throat became dry as she stared longingly at the strip of bare skin that seemed to taunt her. Dare she take advantage of his prone condition? One little caress wouldn't hurt she reasoned as her hand moved with a life of its own.

She glanced up and almost jumped out of her skin to see him looking down at her.

'Looking for something?' he rumbled ominously, his eyes hard and bright like diamonds.

Emily shifted away and drew the coverlets up to her chin a nervous gesture. How long had he been awake?

'Why are you in my bed?' she squeaked defensively

'Why is your hand under my shirt?' he teased back easily.

Her jaw did several push ups as her brain struggled to cope with this unexpected light hearted side of her usually serious minded friend, 'I…I…I asked you first!'

Hotch waived between acting on the heady rush of blood that her not so innocent touches had trigged off and the fact she was heavily medicated and probably wasn't herself.

'Weak Prentiss' Aaron mocked her paltry comeback line, 'you usually can come up with something better'

He moved to heave himself off the mattress when he twisted his torso suddenly and rolled right over her instead. Emily squealed with laughter and playfully pummeled his body as he got up and sat in the nearby chair.

'How are you feeling?' he wanted to know, 'Can I get you anything?'

'My head hurts' she admitted still smiling at his playful antics 'but it's not too bad. Tell me what happened with Strauss'

Hotch leaned back into the chair crossing his arms as he tried to relate this morning's events to the best of his ability.

'Emily' he scowled darkly down at her, 'this isn't funny. Why am I the only one who is taking this seriously?'

The young profiler had placed a pillow over her face to muffle the sound of her laughter, 'I think its brilliant!'

'Please don't tell Morgan that, I beg of you' he added fervently, 'he already takes too many risks. Do you realise how furious Strauss would be if she finds out how the team hoodwinked her into granting me sick leave?'

Emily opened her mouth to tell him to lighten up when the door bell rang. They both looked at each other, knowing full well that their friends would have called ahead instead of buzzing.

As the profiler peeked out the window he breathed a sigh of relief, 'It's Will'

He dashed quickly to the door incase Will rung the bell again thus waking up Garcia.

'Hello?' JJ's boyfriend responded in his soft southern voice, 'I thought you would be at work'

The former detective quickly absorbed Aaron's rumpled shirt, disordered hair and sock clad feet. The senior agent had the relaxed air of someone who was at home and completely comfortable. It would appear that there was some truth to these rumors JJ had told him about.

'Long story' the lean profiler said in response to Will's unspoken question.

Intuitively, Will could tell that something interesting had occurred but he had Henry waiting in the car, 'I was told to give these to Garcia'

Hotch reached out to accept the large canvas tote bag, 'Thank you'

'The blue thermos has soup and the red, hot coffee. There's also some left over biscuits from this morning in that other container. There are cups, spoons etc in the pouch. How is the patient today?'

'I think we are beginning to see some improvement' Hotch said hopefully with a small smile, 'How did Jack fare with you last night?'

Will looked at him in puzzlement, 'He kept telling me he was there to take care of JJ but other than that, he was really helpful. He was my wing man when Henry had his bath this morning. We had a little trouble last night with a bad dream, though' the man reported.

'Why didn't you call me?' Aaron asked in surprise, 'I would have come right over!'

Will raised his hands to calm the anxious father infront of him, 'JJ was already up feeding Henry and the two of them talked and what not and he went right back to sleep like a lamb'

'I really appreciate you taking him last night' Hotch said automatically.

Will crossed his arms and a wide grin spread over his handsome features, 'Oh I am not too sure you will continue to be all that happy when I tell you what Jack asked us at breakfast this morning'

**Anote: Oh no…I ****have four more story twists and I don't know if I can get to fit in the six days left before Christmas. I won't be able to write after this as I have to get my studies in order. Hmmm…maybe an extra long chapter on Christmas day!**


	13. Days like this

Chapter 13- Days like this

Emily stared at the senior agent as he strode across her room to a little writing table, 'Aaron, what's wrong?'

'Nothing. We've got some food' Hotch announced, placing the bag on a table and unloading the contents.

He kept his face averted from her as he fussed with the spoons and bowls.

'I hope it's pizza' she joked lightly, focusing intently on what she could see of his face.

He didn't laugh back, not even a smile creased his lips.

'Is something wrong with Henry, JJ?' she asked quickly as she slowly shuffled to a sitting position.

'No they're fine' he supplied vaguely, 'This soup smells wonderful'

Emily weakly threw a pillow to one side in frustration.

'Something happened to Jack last night, and you don't want to tell me!' she cried out.

Hotch stared down at the floor, 'Just leave it alone, Emily'

Leave it alone? She couldn't believe he had just said that to her after everything they had been through together.

'Is he okay? Where is he? Is he hurt?' she asked her voice cracking with strain as each new question opened up large vistas of possible horror before her, 'You have to tell me!'

He whirled around and his hostile look caused Emily to shrink back into the stacked pillows behind her.

'I have to tell you?' he asked quietly, 'Why is that?'

She could feel the tear pricks in her eyes as Hotch's unfriendly tone washed over her, 'What are you saying? Why are you behaving this way? '

The man just shook his head in little confused motions, 'I was just wondering why I HAD to tell you anything. He's MY son not yours!'

She flinched visibly as his verbal whip lashed straight over her heart.

He slammed the thermos down on the table, 'I need some air'

Speechlessly she watched as he raced out of the room as if he couldn't get away from her fast enough.

SSA Aaron Hotchner dived into the outside corridor and immediately hurried to the nearest window, fumbling with the stiff latch to open it. As the chilly breeze rushed into the apartment, he stuck his whole head outside and breathed in great lungfuls of the refreshing, sweet air.

Had he lost his mind?!!!

Emily had done more for him and his son than everyone put together. She had earned the right to enquire about his son's well being. Clutching his hair with both hands, the agent looked quiet deranged for a moment, as he sifted through apologies and explanations, discarding them one after the other.

'Emily?' he called out, 'Why are you out of bed?'

She was pressing her back against the walls as she inched determinedly along.

'Because you walked away in the middle of our conversation' she answered him tightly.

Hotch looked at her warily. He didn't need to be a profiler, to know that she was beyond angry.

'Where is Jack?' she inquired a dangerous edge in her voice.

This time he didn't hesitate, 'He had a great night at JJ"s place and I took him to school this morning. To the best of my knowledge he's still there, enjoying his last day of the term'

She locked eyes with him for a few seconds before turning away. He leapt forward to assist but paused as she raised her hand to ward him off.

'Do NOT touch me!' she growled at him.

Hotch didn't dare approach any closer lest she told him to get out of her house as she had every right to do. But he didn't wander too far as he could see the sweat glistening on her brow as she struggled to return to her room. He experienced a déjà vous moment, as he untangled the covers to allow her to slip into the warmth underneath. She turned her back to him as he rolled the covers over her shoulders. The straight line in her posture told him clearly that she knew he was there and that he could go to hell.

With a creak of the bed springs he sat on the edge of the bed. Now they were sitting back to back each staring at the opposite wall as the silence grew heavy and painful between them. When he could stand it no longer, Hotch twisted his body around to face her and very carefully he put his hand on her shoulder. He thanked the God he was not too sure about, that she didn't pull away.

'Emily, I'm sorry. I know my words hurt you and I am sorry. I have no excuse. I was a jerk. Please Emily' he apologised softly.

As the seconds ticked by he looked over her shoulder hoping to see her face but her hair had fallen over her eyes. Gingerly he reached across to lift the heavy strands. It was like a punch to his gut when he saw the solitary tear that ran down her cheek.

'Emily' he whispered, 'I'm so sorry'

She wiped the tear away almost angrily, 'Don't, don't say it if you don't mean it!'

Hotch gripped her shoulder a little harder now, 'I said it BECAUSE I meant it'

For a bad little moment she didn't say anything at all but then her body sagged as the tension left her body. Instantly the air in the room became more breathable.

'Jack had an interesting question for Will at breakfast, and I'd like to talk to you about it, if you would let me?' Hotch pleaded with her right shoulder.

At that she had to roll over to see his face. She could never deny him anything for long. Gah! She was turning into a marshmallow!

As he moved to collect the forgotten soup he revealed that Jack asked Will where he got his baby from.

'Really!? What did Will say?' she asked curiously.

He refused to answer her question until she took the spoonful of soup he was waving under her nose.

'He told Jack to ask me because he wasn't sure what approach I wanted to take' he responded getting another spoonful ready.

'Fair enough' she mumbled before opening her mouth.

'You know when Haley told me she was pregnant; I couldn't speak for a full minute afterwards' he confided to her.

Emily smiled tentatively, 'That sounds perfectly normally'

'The thing is' he began, dropping the spoon with a splash into the bowl, 'I didn't really ..'

'…you didn't think you would be a good father' she profiled automatically.

He regarded her with some surprise as she covered her mouth in shame. Oh god, did she really say that out loud. With a small encouraging smile he invited her to continue.

'Um…well. It's just the way you handle your emotions in that you don't really handle them at all. This would indicate that your parents most likely your father pushed you away as a child but still tried to control you in err...some way. He most likely had trouble expressing his own emotions in a healthy fashion and now you are craving…'

She stopped then as he compressed his lips and averted his head away. She heard him sigh loudly. He was curious as to what she had to say but really you would think he would know better by now, not to invite a skilled profiler to give her professional opinion on his life.

He fed her a few more spoonfuls to give him time to gather his thoughts and to reassure her at the same time that he was not upset at her. Soon the bowl was empty.

'More?'

She shook her head. Thank god he was here to help her with the soup, she thought. She was so tired now she didn't think she could even hold the spoon. Of course, she wouldn't be this tired if she hadn't had to chase him down a corridor.

'So now you know you were wrong' she commented lightly.

He raised an eyebrow questioningly as he laid the bowl to one side.

'You're a great father' she added warmly

He smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. He may have been sitting next to her but he was walking in a memory far, far away. Tired as she was she focused all her remaining energy on the man beside her knowing from his body language that this was the moment he would come to the meat of whatever had upset him.

'Every New Year, Haley would make a list of wishes and resolutions. One year she asked me why I never had a list. She use to say that if I didn't have a dream, how could I ever have a dream come true? I can't remember what I said but I know I didn't answer her question.'

Emily leaned over and held his hand as she could hear the tremor in his voice. He grasped it tightly before continuing.

'But she was my wife and my best friend, and she didn't need to ask. She already knew. The next year Jack was born. I had it all Emily, everything I never thought I would have; a family and a place that felt like home. And then it was all gone. Jack is the only thing I have left of that dream come true'

She didn't know what to say as he covered his eyes with his other hand. Every thought that came to her seemed trite. She knew that some day in the future Aaron and Jack would make a new dream for themselves. But between now and that hopeful point in the future, there would be days like this.

**Authors note: Never fear my faithful and worried reviewers, barring serious illness I will always update the next day. By the way, are you guys getting your story alerts from ? I'm not and I even checked my spam folder****.**


	14. Jack goes shopping

Chapter 14- Jack goes shopping

'So did you have a good day in school today, kiddo?' Dave asked as he gave the turning signal.

Jack nodded his head, 'Teacher gave us a candy cane each'

With only Reid, Morgan and himself available to run errands, he had volunteered to collect the young man as they had done the lunch drop off earlier.

'I made a picture for Emmy, you want to see?' the toddler inquired, already rummaging in his bag.

The agent parked smoothly into Emily's parking lot, just as Jack was unfolding his masterpiece.

'She's going to love it' the older man assured him holding the paper carefully as he gave the art piece his undivided attention. It was a picture of a Christmas tree that had been further decorated with glitter, kite paper and various beads, bits of string and baubles as decoration. A distinctive stick figure standing next to it caught his attention.

'Is that Morgan?' the agent pointed at the only bald headed figure in the group.

Jack stood up on the seat to see over his Uncle Dave's shoulder, 'Ah huh. See, he's playing tag with Aunty Penny around the tree'

Rossi smirked broadly. Was that a coincidence or had Jack inherited some profiling genes along with his father's dark looks.

'And who is this, with the three legs?' he wanted to know next.

Jack bounced up and down a bit, excited that he had such an interested audience, 'That's Uncle Reid with his stick'

The little boy then pointed out his Daddy, Emmy and himself decorating the tree. The blonde hair woman with the baby was of course Aunty JJ with a sandy hair Will hovering protectively nearby.

'Where am I?' Rossi wondered as he saw two figures remaining.

Jack pointed to the one sitting on a chair reading the newspaper.

The profiler frowned at the remaining stick person who was standing almost to the edge of the picture, far away from every one else, 'And who's this?'

'That's mummy, she went away but she's still looking over me' he added solemnly as he looked up.

Although Rossi wasn't too keen on kids in general, only someone with a heart of stone would not respond to Jack's innocent beliefs. He gave the brave little boy a quick squeeze and a quiet kiss on his head, 'That she is. She will always be looking over you'

Jack smiled at his uncle and wrapped his arms around the man's neck as they stepped out of the vehicle.

Absentmindedly, Rossi locked the car still focused on the elements of the art work,' Jack when you were making this picture, were you happy?'

He grinned as the lad nodded his head vigorously.

'Kiddo, can I borrow your gift for a moment?' he asked, 'I just want to show it to Morgan, I'll be really careful'

'You want to show me what?' Morgan questioned as he eagerly removed the toddler from the older agents grip.

He had seen them talking in the car from the living room window and had come out to investigate what was keeping them.

Derek pretended to stagger under Jack's weight causing the little boy to squeal in delight, 'Munchkin, you're getting as big as your old man!'

As they walked into the foyer the smell of fried chicken greeted them and the sound of a TV audience hummed companionably in the background. Derek put him down with a loud, exaggerated groan and patted him on his bottom, 'I'm exhausted, go keep your Uncle Reid company, he's lying down on the couch'

The toddler sped off to spend time with his favourite uncle.

'Reid's leg acting up again?' the older man enquired quietly as he handed the art work to his colleague.

'Yeah, the cold weather's killing him but you know how he is. He'd say he's fine even if he had been shot. What am I looking at here?'

'Something that we are going to act on, do you know if Emily has a Christmas tree?'

'Huh?....wait…is that me next to the tree? he pointed as Dave pulled him into the living room.

Just then Reid began gesticulating wildly at the television while his 'nephew' watched him in avid fascination.

'What is the Hoover dam, Hoover dam!' he shrieked shaking his drumstick at the clueless game show contestant.

An obnoxious dull buzz signaled the unfortunate end of that question session.

'What an idiot!' the genius snorted in disbelief, falling back on the couch with a hand over his face.

'What an idiot!' Jack parroted happily, collapsing similarly beside him.

'REID!!!' the two lead agents scolded as the younger man belatedly clapped his hands over the little boy's ears.

Shaking his head in disgust Dave flipped out his cell phone, 'Hotch it's me, is the patient awake?'

Jack looked up eagerly from Reid's lap at the mention of his dad's name.

'Yes he's here' he replied bending low to hand over his mobile to the youngster.

Morgan grabbed the remote to turn down the volume so that Jack could hear clearly.

'Hello Daddy'

Every eye was riveted on the one sided conversation as the little boy practically glowed with happiness at the sound of his father's voice.

'Hello Emmy. Can I come see you now?'

The men grimaced at each other as they knew what the answer would be and Rossi quickly moved to distract the disappointed boy.

'Ask her if she has a Christmas tree' he whispered into the boy's other ear.

Much to Rossi's delight she had not yet purchased one but she had decorations and lights.

Morgan peered uncertainly into the box that she had led them to and took the phone from the boy.

'Um, I found them but…err…' the agent began uncertainly.

Emily sighed understanding his plight, 'My mum picked them out'

Morgan nodded his head knowingly and pushed the fragile, designer ornaments into a corner, 'Tell Hotch to jump in the shower because we are going to get a tree!'

After a little negotiating, subtle intimidation, reverse psychology and a disguise for Hotch (in case he ran into anyone from the FBI) the small group had reached the large cordoned off parking lot that served as the tree store. Rossi had elected to stay behind to hold down the fort with the injured Reid. To keep themselves busy they had moved to the kitchen to make some Christmas cookies for the shoppers when they returned.

In the meantime, Jack and Aaron clung to each tightly, a little intimidated by the huge, bustling and happy crowd. Everywhere families moved in little packs searching for the best tree at the best price. Several entrepreneurial souls had also set up satellite stalls selling hot chocolate, nuts, popcorn and hot dogs so shoppers lingered even after they had made their purchases. There were even some couples dancing in an empty spot around a battered little radio. The father and son duo squashed themselves against a wall as a breathless Garcia barreled past them. In a rare moment of life imitating art, Morgan chased a laughing Garcia around several trees.

'Daddy, I don't think Aunty Penny knows how to play hide and seek very well' Jack commented after a few minutes.

'That's because she's not sure if she wants your Uncle Derek to catch her or not' Hotch replied watching the colourful pair.

Jack scrunched his face not quite understanding the explanation given when his father gave him a little squeeze, 'When you get older you'll understand'

The man experienced a pang of regret as his arms trembled slightly under the weight of his son. His boy was growing like a beanstalk and in the blink of an eye; Jack would soon be towering over him. He nuzzled Jack's soft skin, and got a warm kiss in return. This was not the time to be daydreaming though, as one needed their wits about them in the large crowd.

'Alright son, let's get Emily a tree!'

They saw little trees, big trees, lopsided trees, fat trees and skinny trees. Nowhere did they find one that they could all agree on. Father and son moved to another specimen and the little boy leaned over in his father's arms to run his hands over the feathery branch.

'I like this one' he announced and Hotch put him down to reach out for the price tag.

He glanced around looking for the others when he spied a stately platinum blonde two aisles away. Quickly he ducked behind the plant and peered through the needles at the suspicious woman. It only took him a few seconds to realise that it wasn't Strauss. That really would have been something.

'False alarm son, I thought that was err…someone from the office' Hotch explained walking around the tree.

'Jack?' the man called turning in a full circle, 'Jack, come to papa now. We are not playing hide and seek in this crowded store'

'Jack?'

**Author's note: New reviewers. How Wonderful! Hello Jwynn, romiross and ginensu.**** I am getting my story alerts now. Maybe they had an overload of the system that day.**

**Some bad news, I am not feeling too well these days but I will try and update tomorrow as per usual. I will really try. So shall I have an Unsub kidnapping Jack at this late hour of the story or have him get lost for the night in the store? Hmmm…I have to think about this.**


	15. Hard to breathe

Chapter 15- Hard to breathe

Penelope shrieked as Derek cannon balled into her back.

'I've got you now, woman' the man chuckled evilly wrapping his arms around her.

'You did NOT catch me!' she gasped between breaths, 'I just ran out of steam'

Morgan peered around her shoulder, 'Never thought you could ever run out of steam, babygirl'

The technician never had a chance to comment on that provocative statement as a howl of anguish calling out a familiar name rent the air.

'Oh God' she breathed, moving forward as Derek quickly sprinted towards the last place they had seen the Hotch and his son.

As Aaron searched around the nearby trees, strangers came forward to assist.

'What does he look like?'

'Everyone, look for a boy who's walking by himself!'

'Jack!'

'Jack!'

Morgan grasped his friend whirling him around to face him, 'Hotch what happened?!'

He caught his dazed colleague by the elbows as he stumbled slightly.

'He was right here' the older man whispered desperately, 'He was right here!'

Morgan was a field agent long enough to recognise the signs of shock beginning to set in.

He grasped the man's shoulders firmly and forced the man to look at him in the eye, 'Hotch, we're going to find him'

'Daddy, I'm coming!' a breathless little voice called out from somewhere to the left.

'He's over here!' one of the volunteers yelled out.

Jack came running around the corner and Hotch went down on his knees. Without even slowing down the boy ran straight into his father's outstretched arms. A spontaneous burst of applause rang out from the circle of onlookers. Thank goodness, the little boy had been found, they thought. There were enough bad things happening in the world without a father losing his child at Christmas. The crowd began to disperse as the father and son were lost in their own little world. Morgan stood protectively over the two as Garcia knelt to hug Hotch who had begun to cry.

Just then Will burst into the clearing and also dropped to his knees gasping for breath. He pointed behind him and Derek approached carefully, ready for anything. JJ and little Henry emerged from behind a Douglas fir.

'Thank God!' she said fervently as she spied the little boy safe in his father's arms.

In the exact moment Hotch had ducked behind the tree to hide, Jack had seen JJ walking hand in hand with Will next to the hot chocolate stand. Without thinking he made a beeline over to them. He always liked the woman as in his childish fantasies, he believed her to be like a princess with her pretty clothes and her long shinning, hair. He had almost reached the couple's side when he heard his father calling to him. Immediately, he turned around but got lost in the maze of almost identical Christmas trees.

'Don't cry daddy' the little boy whispered starting to cry in his turn, 'I didn't mean to do bad'

Hotch held Jack away so that he could look at the boy's face, 'Why did you run away? You must never do that!'

Aaron gave his son a little shake in his frustration.

Morgan looked at the two worriedly, 'Um...Hotch?'

The aggravated father waved his hand agitatedly across the store, 'Do you know the kind of monsters there are out there?'

'Hotch!' Derek called out a little louder this time, 'Knock it off!'

The senior agent ignored him.

'What were you thinking?!' he growled in exasperation giving the boy another shake.

That was it!

Derek tackled him from behind hauling the man to his feet and away from the thoroughly frightened toddler.

'Are you crazy?! What's the matter with you?' the team leader hissed into his colleague's ear.

Garcia had scooped the crying boy into her arms and the women came together in a protective huddle.

Suddenly the older man seemed to lose his balance and caught off guard, Morgan and the senior agent went down in a heap of arms and legs.

'Aaron what's wrong?' he asked as Hotch clutched his chest and his face spasmed in pain, turning red as he struggled to breathe.

'Jesus, Mary and Joseph, is he having a heart attack?!!!' the southerner interjected colourfully, whipping out his cell phone to call an ambulance.

Morgan rolled infront of the older agent 'I think he's having some sort of panic attack. Hotch can you hear me!'

Will sat down behind the distressed agent inorder to support his body. He could feel the tremors racking the other man's lean frame.

Derek waved his hand infront the man's face, 'Hotch look at me, LOOK AT ME!'

The older man grasped the hand and squeezed it hard, as yellow spots danced infront his eyes.

'Okay, just take a breath and hold it' Derek commanded, 'I said hold it! Don't make me slap you into tomorrow!'

All eyes focused on the trio of men especially the one man whose breathing consisted of raspy gasps. Seconds seemed to stretch into years as the awful sounds receded slowly and a more natural looking colour filled Hotch's face.

'Alright?' Morgan whispered and was pleased when the older man nodded back calmly.

He rested his forehead against his friend's in relief.

'Being team leader sure is a lot of work' the black man groused affectionately.

Hotch had to grin at that as he closed his eyes and relaxed against Will's shoulder.

'Daddy's okay,' he called out to his son.

At this Jack could not be contained and he wriggled out of his caretakers' grasp and threw himself into his father's arms. Hotch kissed the damp little head buried in his chest.

'I'm okay' he reassured his boy, 'I'm sorry I scared you. I'm okay'

With that he rose in one fluid motion, effortlessly cradling the toddler to his side, 'See all better. No one's tougher than your dear old dad'

Jack was not convinced and he looped his arms and legs around his father chest, squeezing tightly. The girls came forward eager to reassure themselves of the senior agent's condition.

'I'm sorry that I ruined everyone's evening' Aaron apologised to the group as he sat on a convenient overturned bucket.

Will slapped him on the shoulder, 'You're okay and Jack's okay, so that makes it a good evening'

Everyone nodded in emphatic agreement.

The older man felt humbled by the supportive faces surrounding him. He was arguably an emotional wreck since the funeral but their little group stood shoulder to shoulder weathering every storm with him. What had he done to deserve such unwavering support?

However everyone was eager to get home after this latest bit of unsolicited excitement.

Morgan stepped up assigning little groups to various tasks almost like if he was back in the office 'JJ, you and Jack get something for Hotch to drink, Garcia find us a tree and Will if you can make sure she doesn't go overboard with her selection, I would be greatful. I will pick out some decorations'

'Exsgueze me, I heard that!' Garcia remarked, playfully walking off in a huff.

Everyone else scattered to complete their assignments.

Derek knelt down to check on his partner, 'you sure you're okay? Do you need to go to the doctor?'

Hotch shook his head. He didn't want to be anywhere near a hospital and he knew if he told Morgan that he had a panic attack earlier in Emily's house, there would no way to avoid the unwanted doctor's visit. The dark skinned man hovered anxiously just in case and Aaron was relieved when Jack came back and the new leader departed to select decorations.

'Drink your hot chocolate, Daddy' his little boy encouraged him with a cheeky grin.

Aaron hoisted him unto his knee, 'No matter how upset I am, you know that I love you, right?'

Jack took a sip of the hot drink his father offered him and nodded happily, 'I love you too daddy'

The man's face relaxed into a lopsided grin. No one would ever love him quite as unconditionally as this little boy would.

'Well let's grab some ornaments of own and go home' he suggested, 'those cookies must be ready by now'

Hotch flinched as something cold and wet touched his cheek. A general cry of delight and awe arose from the crowd as everyone looked up.

'Daddy, it's snowing!!!'

**Author's note: ****Okay, I know it seems as though I am torturing Hotch at every turn but I honestly think that if Jack was missing even for a few minutes, his father is going to experience a severe reaction and this was my take on it. **

**In addition, apologies for the firestorm yesterday with my 'should I have an Unsub kidnap Jack?' remark. I really thought readers would pitch me a few ideas as to where to go with the story from that point. However I concede that I wrote the sentence badly. I am glad though that everyone seems to like my interpretation of Jack Hotchner and are very attached to his character.**

**Kavi- I also check the site ob****sessively and hello linelm and sharonna2000. Hope you like what you have read so far.**


	16. An impromptu party

**For House broken**

Chapter 16- An impromptu party

Morgan carefully negotiated the highway as the snow was coming down thick and fast now. He was grateful that he had a bit of spare tarpaulin in the back to cover the tree. Emily would not have appreciated it dripping all over her hardwood floors. He peeped in the rearview mirror and grinned at Jack's happy face. The little boy was seated safely on his father's lap staring with bright eyes as his Aunty Penny sang along, American Idol style, to the Christmas tunes blasting from the car radio. What Hotch thought of all this was anyone's guess. It was hard to tell when he had his 'Unsub, are you talking to me?' face on. Morgan suspected he was biting the inside of his cheek trying not to laugh but at least that was better than him morosely dwelling on the upsetting disappearance of his son.

Thank God, Jack had just wandered off a bit. If anything had happened to that little boy, it would have eviscerated his father. With a bit of effort, he shook off these bleak thoughts and joined Garcia in a rousing but slightly off key rendition of 'Jingle Bells'.

Jack looked up at his Dad, and gave him a hug when the man smiled down at him. He was having a wonderful time! His daddy wasn't angry anymore and he was smiling every time he checked. He was feeling warm and toasty from the inside out after having finished off his father's hot chocolate. They had gotten a huge tree, just like in his picture and a whole trunkful of decorations. He had a great pack of snowflake ornaments for Emmy clutched protectively against his chest and best of all fresh cookies were waiting for him at home. He had wanted to get a real snowflake for his sick Aunty but his father had assured him that she would like these glittery silver ones better. He was ready to burst from happiness by the time they walked into the living room and the only thing that could possibly top this evening would be if…

'EMMY!' the little boy shouted, pumping his legs so that his father would know he wanted down.

Taken of guard, Hotch dropped him and Jack landed with a bit of a thump but that didn't faze the excited boy as he scrabbled to his feet and raced over to the couch where Aunty Emmy lay. Just as he was about to climb unto the couch a pair of strong hands plucked him off the ground.

'Alright, calm down son' Rossi said sternly as Jack pouted at him, 'Everyone who wants to talk to Aunty Emily has to sit on the special chair'

Jack looked at where the older man pointed and waved his packet of snowflake ornaments at Reid who was already seated in the large armchair with his injured leg propped up on an ottoman.

'You appear to have had quite an adventure, young man' he remarked brightly as he settled the boy carefully on his lap, noting the red cheeks and slightly damp coat.

'Thank you for the wonderful picture' Emily said, holding it up, 'I have come to help you decorate, just as you drew here'

When Rossi had come upstairs to enquire about the possibility of sprinkles for the cookies, Emily had decided then and there, that she wanted to be part of the celebrations. Haley's murder this year had driven home the fact that life was unpredictable and if one had any sense, not to be taken for granted. She didn't know how much longer Jack and Aaron would want her around and she would be crazy to miss out on this special moment.

Reid locked his arms around Jack as he tried to go to the woman and Emily felt her arms physically ache to hold him too.

'It's alright baby, I'm right here' she said bracingly, 'what is that you are waving at me?'

Hotch stepped forward to assist in the transfer of the package to the couch. If anyone noticed that she held the senior agent's hand a bit longer than necessary, they didn't comment.

'Snowflakes! Emmy, it's snowing outside, so I thought you might want some' Jack replied excitedly.

A sad wistful smile graced her face, similar to the one worn by thousands of women who jealously look at other people's children and long for one of their own. She studied Jack's earnest little face, desperately committing it to memory.

'Thank you honey bear, they are the most beautiful decorations I have ever seen' she choked out, blinking her eyes rapidly to prevent her from crying.

A general hubbub of excitement broke at the front door as Morgan and Will carefully brought the tree in. There was a slight squabble as to where to place it but Jack's little voice had cut across all, emphatically stating that Emily should decide. There was some good natured mumbling that Jack sounded just like his father when he was in a foul mood but this was replaced by a resounding cheer as the tree successfully went from horizontal to vertical.

From then on the impromptu tree trimming party went into high gear. Reid was delegated to deejaying duties to keep him off his leg. He was hard pressed to keep up with the flurry of requests that came from all corners, as everyone wanted to hear their favourites. As the cookies and cups of holiday spiced tea was passed around he ignored all comments, his hands flying over his laptop searching and compiling the requested tunes. However, a high colour stained Reid's cheeks as Derek openly guffawed at his foray into sugar cookie making. How was he to know that you shouldn't roll the dough so thick? As a result, the Santa had morphed into a blobby snowman, the reindeer were overweight and the mistletoe, which he had put two cinnamon dots on, now looked like angry red-eyed aliens.

Sigh!

At least they tasted good judging by the way Jack was inhaling them.

'Son, that's enough' Hotch warned as the little boy stuffed the biscuits into his mouth, 'leave some for tomorrow'

Reid and Jack both looked down at the last cookie on the plate with identical sad expressions and Emily grinned knowing the two boys loved this dessert above all others. A quick smile went around the room though as Jack had generously broken the fat reindeer in half and popped the extra bit into Spencer's mouth.

'Alright, Jack. Let's burn off some of those calories! Come help your Uncle Morgan with these lights' Morgan said scooping the boy off Reid's lap.

Seeing his son busily engaged in the decorating process, Hotch had settled cross legged on the floor next to Emily's couch. Rossi had quickly joined them, dragging one of the dining room chairs away from the excited fray. He was glad that they had gotten the tree for Jack but he still had a deep seated aversion to the holiday and Christmas trees in particular. The haunting case involving young Connie, Alicia and Georgie still burned brightly in his memory at this time of year. As he sat and folded his legs, Rossi couldn't help but notice a similar haunted look on Aaron's face as he stared fixedly at his son.

The sound of Rudolph the Red nosed Reindeer was now starting as he handed Hotch a glass of whiskey, 'you look like you could use this more than me'.

Emily and Dave leaned in closer to hear a recap of the night's events and the compassionate young woman's hand convulsed in horror on Hotch's shoulder.

'Jack's all right, now' she whispered to him, gently smoothing his hair to calm him as naturally as if she had done so all her life.

The senior agent reached up and brought her hand down to kiss the inside of her wrist. In response, she gasped softly and tried to pull away as she felt Rossi's curious eyes on them. What was Aaron doing?! As she pulled and eyed him meaningfully, Hotch turned to glare at his old friend daring him to speak. Dave wisely turned his head, exaggeratingly pretending that he hadn't seen anything worthy of a comment.

Hmmm….it was obvious what Hotch wanted for Christmas!

'Emmy look!' Jack called pointing to the candy cane he had just hung on the lowest of the branches.

'Whoa there sport!' Morgan called out, 'Let me just drape the lights first, if I can just FIND the confounded end of this cord!'

Garcia looked up then from her workstation where she was removing decorations from their boxes and placing them on a low table for Jack. When Derek had somehow managed to wrap the string of lights twice around his torso instead of the tree she had moved forward to assist their fearless leader. Morgan glared at her as she made various witty remarks about his co-ordination or lack thereof.

'JJ!' Emily called out waving to her friend to come inside and partake of the madness.

The young mother had switched places with Will and had poked her head in to say goodnight to everyone. She was surprised to see Emily downstairs but pleased that she was apparently feeling better. Jack skipped over to take her hand trailing a long piece of tinsel behind him. As the duo approached, Rossi and Hotch quickly vacated the area wanting to give the two women some privacy.

'You have to sit in the special chair to talk to Emmy' the boy announced solemnly pointing at Reid.

Their genius turned DJ looked up then and shook his head, 'That's okay, she can sit on that empty chair, over there'

The blonde winked mischievously at him, 'why would I want to do that when there's a special chair available?'

And to Reid's horror she plopped herself in his lap.

'JJ!' he screeched pushing her off to one side as he scrunched himself into the remaining corner of the chair.

By this time, Emily was laughing so hard at her friends' antics she got a stitch in her side. Hotch had moved over to help untangle Morgan but he tripped over the cords as he really wasn't concentrating. Emily's laugh washed over him in a distracting wave of longing. She smiled at him then and it was as if her youth and vibrancy sparkled like a diamonds in the air between them.

Rossi had to shake his head at this disgusting display of mush. As far as he was concerned, they couldn't be anymore obvious if they had a neon sign painted on their foreheads. He looked over to Jack to see what the little boy thought of this exchange and was surprised to observe that the young man had gone unnoticed to one of the windows. Dave knelt down behind the boy and they looked out at the snowy scene outside. He could just guess what Jack was thinking about.

'Your mum's out there' he reassured the toddler squeezing his shoulder supportively, 'but how about we light this candle, just to make extra sure that she can see you?'

And as the gathering continued behind them, together they stood next to the lit candle, watching the snow fall.

**Anote: Whew! That was a tough one to write. **


	17. What happened one morning

**m****ummacass, your review made me cry. Thank you and a Happy Christmas to you too!**

Chapter 17- What happened one morning…

SSA Aaron Hotchner greeted Christmas Eve morning with a heartfelt moan as he massaged his aching neck. He was too old to be sleeping on a couch this hard, he grumbled. With one hand carefully cradling his son, he rolled off the sofa gently laying Jack back on the pillows to continue sleeping. The older man shuffled gingerly forward to restart circulation in his hands and feet as he took stock of his surroundings. Stretching and yawning he surveyed the brightly lit Christmas tree infront of him. It was magnificent but nothing could top the moment when he held Jack aloft to put up the star. If anyone told him, he would have had such a great Christmas this year he would have taken that person in to have his head examined.

He had slept like the dead last night, his body making up for his broken rest the night before. Garcia had not awakened him so he could only assume the women had also spent a peaceful night but he climbed the stairs to reassure himself. He looked in the guest room first and the young computer technician slept on oblivious to his scrutiny. There was a smile on her lips so most likely she was composing her newest colourful and completely inappropriate telephone greeting for the team. He closed that door quickly and crossed the hall to Emily's. She was beginning to make stirring motions when he cautiously peeked in, so he took the liberty of entering.

'Aaron!' she yelped obviously surprised at his presence.

He paused wondering why she was suddenly so shocked by his appearance. He was in here all day yesterday. Her reason became clear when she turned to hide her face, grabbing her hairbrush to tame her unruly bed head. His heart warmed at this bit of womanly vanity. Didn't she know she would always look beautiful to his eyes no matter her state of disarray?

'You stayed' she remarked shyly a most becoming shade of pink filling her cheeks, 'I thought everyone went home'

Hotch stared at her face fascinated by this look he had never seen, but eventually moved to fold some clothes on a chair to give her some privacy as she made herself more 'presentable'.

'They did but everyone should be back at o'seven hundred for breakfast' he answered stacking the clothes neatly in a pile, 'We have to decide how we should work out today's activities'

He looked out through the window to assess the weather. It had really snowed last night and it was still coming down. Was it even safe to be out on the roads today? The visibility was so poor he couldn't even identity whose car had just pulled up to Emily's front door. As he reentered the living room, Hotch grabbed two trash bags filled with ornament wrappings and their plastic containers intending to hand it over to whoever was outside for dumping. To his surprise he could hear the distinctive sounds of a key turning in a lock. How could this be, when he was the only one who had a key? As the door opened a young man Hoch had never seen confidently strode across the threshold.

The stranger jerked to stop when he caught sight of the barefooted, jersey and sweat pants clad agent holding two trash bags in his hands. He clutched a pot of cheerful daises closer to his chest as the pair stared stupidly at each other for a long moment. The man looked around cautiously, obviously trying to verify that he was in the right house which was ridiculous because his key had opened the door.

'Um…I have come to see Emily?' the man began a little nervously as the taller man infront of him tried to bore a hole in his forehead with his stare.

Hotch had regained his composure but nothing could stop the feeling of dread that filled his heart. Why this did very good looking, expensively dressed either a lawyer or banker, young man have Prentiss' front door key? The older agent stalked forward and by sheer intimidation alone backed him out into the snow.

'Can I ask who is calling?' he inquired softly but with a dangerous edge, warning the stranger that he was not someone to be trifled with.

But the stranger was not daunted and wore a belligerent look on his face as he responded, 'Joseph McLeod, tell her it's Joey'

'Just a moment' and with that he rudely shut and bolted the door in the man's face.

Hotch swallowed anxiously as he climbed the stairs once again. His heart beat had sped up like if he had just run a marathon and his stomach churned irritably. So distracted were his thoughts that he almost collided with Emily as she came out the bathroom.

She was wiping her face so she didn't see how drawn and anxious her friend's face had become, 'Who was at the door?'

Who was at the door? What an excellent question! There had to be some reasonable explanation why this effeminate wimp was bringing her flowers. He, Aaron Hotchner, was a trained profiler. There was no way he could have misread Emily's attentions to him and his son. Why then did this man have her front door key?

'Joseph McLeod commonly known as Joey' he bit out sneeringly.

Emily's jaw had dropped open in surprise and instantly she scurried back into the bathroom to grab a toothbrush, 'Give me five minutes and then let him in'

Feeling a wave of fear and insecurity he had not experienced in long time, the agent turned away, to collect Emily's 'friend'. Confused and dismayed his hands hesitated on the door latch. Emily hadn't seemed overly happy but she wasn't upset either by the unusually early hour Mcleod had chosen for visiting.

He fumbled with the door and as it swung opened he just managed to stop himself from leaping out to kiss Rossi who was now also on the front porch, keeping the unwanted guest company.

'Thank you God' Hotch mumbled relieved that back up had come and not a minute too soon.

He waved at both of them to enter and Emily's friend climbed the stairs obviously knowing his way around the apartment.

Rossi stared curiously as Aaron helped him with the stack of Jack's Christmas presents that he had just collected from the Hotchner home, 'Who was that?'

'Some friend of Emily's' the man mumbled placing the boxes under the tree, 'where are you going, you can't leave me alone!'

Dave waved his hands to calm the suddenly panicked agent, 'I'm just going to my car to get my presents. We are still having the big gift opening with everybody on Christmas day, yes?'

Aaron grinned unconvincingly, trying to hide his unhappy state of mind from his mentor.

'I'll be right back' Rossi assured his old friend.

By this time Morgan had walked in carrying both his and Garcia's presents.

'Whew! If JJ wasn't making her butter milk biscuits again, I think I would have turned around and gone back home' he remarked arranging his presents under the tree.

When Aaron failed to comment he looked around to find his colleague staring fixedly at the ceiling, 'Hotch everything okay?'

Rossi came in with another armload of presents, 'he's wishing he had x-ray vision right about now because Emily has a visitor, a very good looking gentleman caller I might add'

'Oh' Morgan remarked inquisitively as Hotch's eyes cut to the older agent, clearly not amused by his levity.

Rossi just grinned back at him, 'Hotch is a bit distressed'

'I am not!' the man lied reflexively.

Dave couldn't believe that his friend was letting the stranger affect him in this manner. Ah well, Hotch was seeing everything with a lover's eyes which was quick to jump to hasty conclusions and misinterpretations.

Garcia now came dashing down the stairs in her penguin duster coat, her face filled with breathless excitement, 'Did you SEE the beefcake?'

Hotch scowled irritably at this description and turned to close the front door when JJ drove up in a hurry. She jumped out and waved frantically at him.

'MORGAN, ROSSI!!' he barked out before running out in the snow to the passenger side. He didn't bother to look behind knowing his team well enough to be certain they were right behind him.

'Reid! What happened?' the former team leader demanded to know as he absorbed the greenish hue complexion of their youngest.

Aaron leapt back just in time to avoid been vomited on.

'Hotch! Are you crazy, get back inside and put some shoes on!!!' Morgan yelled in frustration.

He allowed Dave to tow him back into the warmth as Morgan effortlessly picked up their thin, underweight colleague and quickly carried him indoors.

'What happened?' Rossi asked as their resident genius was laid down gently on the couch next to the still sleeping boy.

JJ waved her hands frantically, 'He slipped on some black ice outside his apartment when he went in to get his gifts'

Everyone winced sympathetically. Of all people to fall, it had to be Reid with his bum leg.

'I'm alright' he muttered gamely but he kept his eyes firmly closed a sure indicator that he was not fine. Slowly he cracked one brown eye open and then the other.

'Who's that?' he asked pointing behind the concerned group of his colleagues.

'Hi' Mcleod said waving amicably, 'Um ...Emily wants someone named Aaron to come get her for breakfast'

Hotch couldn't help break out in a smug smile and with a lighter heart he went up the stairs.

Now five pairs of eyes studied the stranger as he shifted anxiously from one foot to the next, clearly feeling the weight of their unwelcoming stares. It was Rossi who broke the ice by inviting the man for coffee. Within five minutes, the profilers had picked his mind clean of all the pertinent facts. Mcleod was Ambassador Prentiss' assistant who clearly had overestimated the sphere of his duties. The Ambassador had asked him to check on her daughter, he defended himself evasively and it was all Morgan could do not to pitch his pitiful ass into the snow as he escorted the man to the door. He safely tucked Emily's door key in his pocket to return to the Ambassador.

It would be a cold day in hell before a spineless turnip like Mcleod would ever get his foot in the door with a woman of Emily Prentiss' caliber. Sure he was easy on the eyes and reasonably intelligent and did honestly think the world of his boss' beautiful daughter but Emily would need all of that and more. She would need someone whose mind and heart wouldn't shatter at the horrors she faced on a daily basis. In short, Emily would want someone she could break upon and be afterwards forever stronger in the places that were broken. It was a moot point anyway as the team had already chosen someone for her.

Ah, speak of the devil.

Everyone was reasonably sure they had seen Emily walk up the stairs last night unassisted, but no one batted so much as an eyelash when Aaron carried her in his arms to the table. Her colour was a bit high but there were smiles on both their faces indicating that they had reached an amiable accord as regards the odd morning visit. From the way they kept looking at each other and then looking away, it would also appear that someone had scraped up the courage to articulate the feelings that they had been tip toeing around for months. Rossi grinned broadly at his old friend while Morgan gave him a surreptitious thumb up. Neither Hotch nor Emily asked where the hapless 'Joey' had vanished to and instead began tucking into the breakfast with a good appetite.

Morgan sat back with a satisfied look as he patted his stomach contentedly. Will was a lucky man, he thought. Reid on the other hand took timid little bites of a hardboiled egg and had some unsweetened tea clearly afraid his stomach wouldn't be able to handle the strain of the rich breakfast provided by JJ. They had turned on the news and had the television on mute as they ate. The weather forecaster was grimly reporting on a series of snowstorms heading their way. A foot of snow had fallen overnight it would seem and another two feet was predicted for today. Pictures of abandoned cars dusted liberally with the snow flashed over the small screen. This would certainly put a dent into the flurry of last minute Christmas shopping that was characteristic of this day. Thank goodness the team had shopped early if the number of presents under the tree was anything to go by. Should they even attempt to go into work today?

As if in answer to that unspoken question, Derek's cell phone rang. He looked at the display window before flipping it open.

'Morgan' was the only greeting the caller received.

All eyes cut to the now serious face of the BAU leader, 'no, ma'am'

Rossi glanced quickly at JJ who shrugged and she twisted around to make eye contact with a stunned looking Reid. Jack had been awoken by the ring of the mobile phone and he clambered sleepily into his father's lap. Everyone held their breath, hoping against hope that it was Morgan's mother on the line. He would address her by ma'am on occasion, wouldn't he?

'I understand that' Morgan stressed, 'but my team is down. Prentiss and Hotch are on sick leave and Reid can barely walk…'

'What! We can't fly in this weather! Strauss MUST be crazy!' Rossi interjected hotly.

Morgan held out his hand for silence.

'Daddy, you're hurting me' Jack whimpered as his father had suddenly given him a tight squeeze.

'Sorry' he apologised handing his son a strip of bacon to nibble on.

Emily's eyes had locked on his and he could feel her hand pat his knee under the table.. She held on tight to his hand, not sure if his fingers had turned into frozen icicles or hers. She knew him well enough to know that if the call came for the team to go out that he wouldn't hide behind a false sick leave.

Morgan shut his phone with a snap and put it down as calmly as he could on the table top.

**Anote:**** Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of our tale tomorrow.**


	18. I'll be home for Christmas

Chapter 18- I'll be home for Christmas

**Extra long chappie.**

'These murders are all over the map' Reid's electronically distorted voice complained as the other agents continued to work out a pattern.

'Take a break Reid and get something to eat' Hotch advised his frustrated colleague, 'What is Jack doing now?'

The young man turned his head back into the living room, 'he's watching cartoons with Emmy..um..Emily'

Morgan glanced across furtively at the senior agent. Aaron looked like he was flipping through the Sunday comics as he reviewed the crime scene photos. Upon finishing with his pile, he raised the stuffed purple dinosaur that Jack had insisted he take with him, and tucked them underneath before moving on to a fresh set of photos.

All things considered it could have been worse. Strauss had originally wanted them to fly out to Chicago to assist one of the secondary teams in a case that had gone from bad to worse with the attack on a popular local sport's broadcaster. Although, the case would have put him in the same city as his family for Christmas, Morgan was glad for Jack's sake that the snow had grounded the plane. Instead of flying, they had been conferencing with the other team trading theories back and forth. They initially had some trouble getting Reid to stay behind with Emily but Hotch had asked to speak to their youngest alone. He had cornered Reid on the couch and whatever he had said to Spencer's bent head had convinced their resident genius.

'Why am I not seeing it?' the young man muttered bitterly.

The latest victim had been shot and then strangled and left for dead. Yes, it was true. Criminals didn't take a holiday. The man was still alive but would be spending his Christmas in intensive care. The attack seemed to suggest that two unknown killers from adjoining states were now working together, a highly unlike scenario according to the statistic minded Reid. But their signature wounds had been matched definitively by the CSI and now the BAU agents were sifting through the evidence of the two individual investigations searching for a connection between the suspects that had been compiled. Nothing had been similar. The victims were different, the manner of disposal varied as well as the time of death. One murderer was organised the other was not. The killers were as different as night and day.

They had been at it for hours and Garcia's fingers were cramped from the amount of data she had compiled and discarded.

'Reid, take a break' Hotch commanded leaning forward to break off the connection.

Morgan had already sent JJ home around three o'clock in the afternoon as dark clouds hung threateningly over the building. No one had drawn an easy breath until Will called to report her safe arrival. Derek slapped down an interview sheet in frustration. What were they doing? The FBI building was a deserted ghost town and if they didn't leave soon, the snow would trap them in the office. How then would Hotch be able to fulfill his promise to Jack and Emily, to be home for Christmas?

Rossi and Garcia glanced at each other briefly as they absorbed their leader's preoccupation with the weather. In contrast, Hotch had barely twitched as he calmly turned over another photo. Derek struggled with a sudden mad desire to reach over and strangle his friend with his stupid red tie.

'Morgan' the soon to be deceased agent began as he studied another gruesome photo, 'you didn't force me to be here. This is my job. Please calm yourself'

Arrgh! The man had all the emotion of a peanut!

The black profiler ran his hand over his smooth head. He should just give the order to pack it in and face the consequences in the morning but he hesitated knowing that it would be career suicide. He should have insisted that Hotch stay at home with Jack. The senior agent looked up then as he heard Morgan sigh for the third time in less that a minute. Hotch locked eyes with Dave and with a wave of his hand Rossi told him he was on his own. He put aside the photos he was looking at clasped his hands in front of him on the table.

'Morgan' he said quietly, 'we need everyone to focus, and whatever you are thinking about has to wait'

The man in question glared at him, 'I'm thinking about you!'

Derek stood up and walked around the room, 'I can't do this. How can you do this? How can you just check your emotions in at the door?'

In his mind he was seeing Hotch bending down to give Emily his son. The brave little boy had dried his tears when his father instructed him to look after her. They had stared at each for a moment before Jack pressed his dinosaur into his father's hand. Without another word the man had walked out leaving his boy and new girlfriend behind.

Hotch gave his head a little shake. He had expected more from such a talented profiler but he wasn't about to defend his decision. It was he who had to live with them after all.

'I do whatever I need to and you will too, eventually' he remarked smiling a bit at the irritated agent.

Morgan sat down again with a exasperated huff drawing the discarded interview sheet to him once more, 'Didn't it ever get to be too much?'

The senior agent start stacking the photos in a different arrangement hoping this time it would make sense, 'of course but Derek, do not sell yourself short you are doing a fine job'

'Yeah right' he snorted in derision.

It had been Hotch's decision to move the 'big board' to Garcia's cubicle so that she wouldn't have to be alone on the night before Christmas in a room filled with the images of dead people. She was his closest friend on the team, he should have thought of that!

Aaron gave him a hard look as the younger agent bent his bald head to refocus on the paper infront of him. Within ten seconds Morgan was staring into space again.

Hotch looked over at Garcia this time.

'Dave do you think there's any coffee left?' she asked loudly pulling the man out of the room.

Morgan glanced at her retreating back suspiciously and folded his arms across his chest. He could feel a lecture coming on and since the best offensive was indeed defensive, he spoke before Hotch did.

'Hotch, have you ever thought about taking back over the team?' he asked quietly.

'Where is this coming from?'

'I'm saying that if you want the job back, I'll step aside. You picked this team, you put us together and we are what we are today because of your leadership. Whenever you're ready, all you have to do is say the word'

Hotch felt that some reply was appropriate right now but damned if he knew what to say.

'Morgan I appreciate you saying that but I think you will find that decision is out of both our hands. I will however, never forget that you offered'

The young man looked warily at the little card that Hotch had now taken out of his wallet and had pushed to his side of the table.

'The serenity prayer?' he asked curiously, 'you pray?'

Hotch didn't smile, 'That was given to me by a friend at alcoholics anonymous. I want you to have it for nights like these when it …gets to be too much'

The two men held opposite edges of the card reading and absorbing the simple yet powerful wisdom it contained.

'You are team leader not God, don't kill yourself over things you can't control' Hotch warned him.

'You're a fine one to talk' Morgan teased back, 'you never let the fact that you were not God stand in your way of anything'

The young profiler expected his friend to smile back at that cheeky response but he didn't. But that wasn't really important because Morgan knew that look.

'What?' Derek asked eagerly scrutinising the wallet card trying to see whatever Hotch had seen.

'But there were many days when I couldn't control everything Morgan, and it was those times when I felt I was losing my mind' he muttered quietly to himself, 'I would have done anything…'

Derek held his breath as his fellow profiler dug deep with himself trying to forge a connection in the case.

He jumped as Hotch hit the speed dial, 'Reid put all the murders from both investigation in your model and take out every other identifier. I want to see them all together'

The agent didn't even question as he erased his previous geographic profile and typed in fresh instructions.

Morgan went to collect the others as the model rebooted itself to the large monitor in the computer room.

'What am I looking at?' Reid wanted to know, 'It looks like alphabet soup now, you know the one with just the X's and O's'

Rossi and Morgan stared at the senior profiler trying to follow his trend of thought.

'What do you do when you can't control a scenario?' Hotch asked the room in general.

Derek waved his prayer card, 'you accept it'

'or you can change the parameters' Garcia added.

Aaron pointed to her as she had just mirrored the thoughts, 'It's because there's no point of intersection except for this one attack. It doesn't make sense. I think we are looking at one killer who has two modes of killing'

Reid broke in quietly, 'that sort of Unsub is highly unstable, you're talking about multiple personalities, aren't you?'

'Garcia, call back the secondary team and have them check for gunshot residue on the victim's hand' Rossi said.

'The victim?' she repeated unsurely.

'Go' he replied tersely, 'he's the only person that didn't die'

'Oh man,' Morgan muttered finally catching on, 'Princess, get out our victim's credit cards and find out if he was anywhere near the areas when any of the other murders occurred'

Her nimble hands raced over her keyboard, and slowly tables with the required data started to fill. Garcia's jaw opened in shock as he turned to her best friend, 'I don't understand, he's the victim'

'Morgan, Chicago here. Positive test for gunshot residue. How did you know?'

Rossi began collecting coats and briefcases as Derek hoisted Garcia to her feet and shoved her in the direction of the door.

'Chicago, Agent Hotchner here. Your victim is the Unsub. Reid, we're coming home'

That last call had been hours ago.

Emily wandered restlessly from room to room. Picking up one random object after the other only to cast it aside as her thoughts moved at a frenetic pace. The journey from the office to her home would have taken her thirty minutes at most, twenty when there was no traffic. But this was America, not the Ukraine or Siberia where if you were caught out in a snow storm, it would take days to find your body. The team was fine, they were together and if the car had broken down, a policeman or other would find them.

The lights blinked rapidly overhead as the electricity to her neighbourhood labored under the weight of the storm that had rolled in. She wanted to sit in the dark and day dream about the absent Hotchner but there were two young boys in the living room that needed her and she knew at least one of them was afraid of the dark. She hurried out and sure enough Reid was eagerly peering down the corridor looking for her.

'Hey shouldn't you be off that leg' she scolded gently as she helped the painfully thin agent back to the couch.

Jack had occupied his evening running one of his toy trucks around the room but as the evening wore on with no sign of his father, he began talking even less and less. She and Reid had taken turns to read the story of the first Christmas to the toddler but she was not even sure he had heard a word. He hadn't asked any questions and he had refused to read out loud the small passage she pointed out to him. He hadn't wanted any warm milk; he picked at his dinner and now couldn't sleep at all.

Desperately Reid had suggested they both open a present early while they waited. It was two hours till Christmas day anyhow, so it didn't really matter he reasoned. Taking silence for consent, Reid took a large one with his name on it and he dragged one of Jack's infront the little boy. The genius had ripped open his package compliments the absent Hotch and goggled at the high tech coffee maker within. He had assured his partner in crime that it may look boring to him but it really was something he wanted. Emily and Reid now both turned to watch the little boy as he fingered the brightly lit wrapping. He shook his head and put it back under the tree. As he dragged his trucks across the carpet, he stated simply that he would wait for his dad. It was then that Emily had started her solitary walk around the apartment as she was having a hard time holding it all together.

Where were they? She didn't know what she would do if any of them had been hurt in the return journey.

Reid tapped her nose to get her attention and wiped her tears away with his long fingers. He looked meaningfully behind her warning the woman that Jack was watching her intently.

'Don't cry Emmy' he had said opening his arms wide to encircle her neck, 'Christmas is coming and daddy will be home'.

And with that the exhausted boy fell asleep in her arms.

With one arm around Jack and the other around Reid she turned to look out at the dreary white landscape, straining her eyes to see a familiar black SUV take the corner. As the minutes ticked away, she had begun to lose all hope, sure now that her missing team members had sought shelter for the night. Maybe they had taken refuge in a centre, or had returned to the FBI building. She was glad that they were together and they had each other to comfort, just as she had Reid and Jack. She must have fallen asleep too because her neck hurt at the awkward angle it had adopted when she had nestled her head on Reid's shoulder.

What had awakened her? Was it Aaron?

She looked out the window and she could just make out a huge, dark shape in the street. It was a vehicle of some kind as its fog lights shone out brightly from the headlights and she could hear the low hum of its engine as it idled at the corner. Carefully she slipped away from Reid's side and covered the boys more securely with a blanket. Thank goodness Jack slept peacefully on, oblivious to the continued absence of his father. As she wrapped her arms around her night robe, she watched the truck creep away; picking it's way carefully in the driving snow.

Was it just this morning that Aaron had flat out told her that he wanted her to be with him and no other? He had backed tracked hastily of course trying to find more elegant words to couch his request but she didn't remember much of that. She had waited while he wound down his little speech before kissing the breath right out his body. Something about his initial caveman approach had lit a fire in her blood. She had heard people say that they could die right now, because they were so happy. She never understood those words until that moment! Absentmindedly, she ran her fingers across her lips, still feeling the warmth of him there. She didn't even need to close her eyes to see his handsome face and in her mind she conjured him, coming out of the snow to be with them on Christmas morning. Her mind was certainly active tonight as it imagined not only him but three other heavily snow coated individuals, slipping and sliding in the snow.

'Oh my god' she whispered as one of the figures in a bright pink hat waved merrily at her before spectacularly losing their balance in the snow.

Later on they would have time to talk about the night's adventures; how they stalled two street away from the BAU; Morgan and Rossi tackling Aaron to prevent him from walking the rest of the way on his own; Penelope's attempt to sweet talk a truck driver into taking ALL of them not just her to Emily's house. But there would be time for that, a whole wonderful holiday to laugh, to get warm, to eat and to hug and to open presents.

Jack had been right. It was Christmas and Aaron had come home.

The End.

**Anote: Whew! That took all day! Happy Christmas and thank you for reading. I enjoyed my time writing for you. **


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